


Overture: Book 2

by Seraph_Years



Series: Disjointed [4]
Category: Furry (Fandom), Original Work, Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Bad Future, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, and how to avert it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:15:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 34
Words: 28,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28483011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seraph_Years/pseuds/Seraph_Years
Summary: A monumental journey of self-discovery.(All references to the avatars of real people, living or dead, is purely coincidental and only serves to drive the story forward.)
Series: Disjointed [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1914574





	1. Pilot: Life after Death

_"Apport complete. Now beginning gradual initialization process..."_

[Gabriel] "Ah, thank you for that. Been waiting a whole year for it, if you catch my drift. Now, where am I supposed to be headed?"

Purgatory is a colorful cloudy wasteland where lost souls depart in a mixture of death and staying alive. Taylor, the subject of Purgatory's consumption by Haris a mere day ago, has found his way here after taking on a new body.

[Gabriel] "A solid pathway! It doesn't really feel safe walking on circuitry..."

He descends and lands on said pathway. On his way to a bright light at the end of the clouds, he can faintly see Taylor's body floating aimlessly.

[Gabriel] "Great, now all I need to do is--"

Suddenly, two sets of mammals at once are seen reaching for it.

[Gabriel] "Year just started and we're already heading down the wrong path."

He approaches the body and travels to the center of Purgatory as a result. Behind him is a familiar face also running towards him.

[Gabriel, looking behind him] "Ramiel?!"

[Ramiel] "Those of our power need not interact with mere Intermediates."

[Gabriel] "That's not the point!"

R8A-01 notices the two and halts his descent to chase Ramiel down. Gabriel uses this bought time to race towards Taylor's body. The Harriers manage to catch up in the meantime.

[Gabriel] "Huh, I knew I'd reunite with you all."

[Quarter] "Strange how it lead up to this, right?"

[R8A-01] "The angel down here is giving me a hard time!"

He says as he looks like he's doing well against Ramiel, parrying her blade attacks with his arms. Before Gabriel could go down there and help, Quarter races down there and dropkicks Ramiel so hard she almost falls off the platform.

[Quarter] "Take Taylor to World A. Us two will handle this one."

[Gabriel] "Why would any of the Sacred Renders attack me, anyway? We congregated peacefully at first."

[Quarter] "The who?"

[R8A-01] "This is the cost of divine power. It equates to the loss of caring for anyone below them, for the link between power and their established avatars have been established in their hearts. They exist in both planes of existence at once. Meet them up there, and their Renders will also be there to halt you in their tracks."

_A few hours later...._

[Gabriel] "Welcome to 2021, kid. Hopefully that body of yours that Haris gave you wasn't too uncomfortable..."

Taylor awoke in his Domain, surrounded by Gabriel and the rest of the Harriers.

[Taylor] "Not another day in THAT body! I had to deliberately faint to lose sight of it!"

[Gabriel] "You hate that... let's say... **foreign aesthetic** that much?"

[Taylor] "You're barely trying to hide it at all. Haris wanted to throw me in another world altogether, I said I wasn't having it, but guess who insisted on making me depr--"

[Gabriel] "We do not use the D word in this establishment. It attracts Twosides like moths to a lamp."

[Taylor] "True. Anyways, can one of you show me a mirror?"

[His species is something akin to this, but anthropomorphic.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Black_Footed_Cat.jpg) With a light sweater accompanied by a pair of khakis along with the usual lack of shoes, his wardrobe has noticeably changed to start the year off fresh.

[Taylor] "Now that _this_ upgrade is done, I can finally--"

Taylor looks around the room.

[Taylor] "What DO we have to do?"

[Gabriel] "Watch time pass. There isn't that much to do other than arrive in World A and walk around, get to know a bunch of folks.

[Taylor] "What about the Knighthood?"

Gabriel realizes that the Harriers are still around.

[Gabriel] "Under new management! The three you see before you - we're missing the fourth one - are the Harriers. Melody, Crescendo, and Sharp. Quarter's off to war."

[Taylor] "How good are they compared to Province and Helga?"

[Gabriel] "You have NO IDEA."


	2. Never Do Wells

Walking through the district, the two could notice that Zootopia looked a lot more faithful to how it looked in that "documentary".

[Taylor] "No doubt about it, the "documentary" was named after the city and featured many of the familiar-- Oh, that's why it's called a documentary."

[Gabriel] "Yeah, ain't gonna try and cover that up."

Out of nowhere, a blue ball of mist descends upon their current location, Baobab Blvd. The mist dispels and reveals a humanoid monstrosity.

[Taylor] "Your name, state it!" he says, brandishing his weapon...

[Taylor] "Uh, where is it?"

[Gabriel] "Oh, I have it right here."

He passes it to Taylor and he activates it.

[Taylor] "Now, can you tell me your name?"

[???] "We all designate ourselves after musical genres. You can call me Funk Rock."

[Taylor] "Oh, that's cute. Now why chase after me specifically?"

[Funk Rock] "Because the beat of your melody is quite dissonant. You express a desire to break off from the sound of others and walk to the beat of your own time signature. We're here to help."

[Gabriel] "Basically, he's saying that if you want to leave the city and strike out in a place where your name is known, then you may do so."

[Taylor] "You'd have to send me to Hell for that!"

Taylor sends out Phoebe and destroys the mist being in one hit with three Cherubim Magnets.

[Taylor] "It's not overkill if I have a good reason for doing so."

[Gabriel] "Which would be?"

[Taylor] "I would give up my life to return to the Writer's Guild. I'm not gonna turn my back--"

[R8A-01] "With that attitude, you might as well."

[Taylor] "Hey, it's... Dang, don't remember much in Purgatory, do you?"

[Gabriel] "You were barely awake in Purgatory."

[Gabriel, to R8A] "Well if it isn't that fox who managed to stand up to Ramiel."

[R8A-01] "I'm not here for you."

[R8A-01] "Listen, Taylor. This city has its ups and downs. I was looking all over for you trying to tell you this, but I highly suggest you find another place to spend your days. World C might--"

[Taylor] "Slow your roll there, buddy! Why are you taking the side of our enemy?"

[R8A-01] "Because you may not realize it, but your source of information comes from the ones you are linked to cycling around the different factions present in every last district in this metropolis. The center of it all, where the Admin Tower is? That's where uncertain history comes from. To read those forbidden chapters of life is tantamount to starting trouble. If you don't want interference from the mist monsters, the Never Do Wells, I suggest you hike it to World C."

[Taylor, to Gabriel] "Is he trying to break me away from Zootopia?"

[R8A] "By no means. I'm just saying not all sectors of this city are safe. There are some real entitled, self-centered mammals out here--"

[Taylor] "Including where I'm permanently banished from?"

[R8A and Gabriel] "..."

[Taylor] "Look, I've seen stuff happen, both where I used to be and where I want to return, but can't. I did some really terrible stuff too, don't get me wrong. Probably why the Never Do Wells are after me, trying to push me **back** to Purgatory."

[R8A] "Tell me what you did, then."

[Taylor] "Oh, I--"

[Gabriel] "That's very confidential!"

[R8A] "Is that so? If it was that bad then I DEFINITELY want you to travel to World C."

[Gabriel] "I tried that already. I can't say I liked it there, so I shut off the connection. If you think you can link us back there again, you have another thing coming."

[R8A] "...Do you at least like what I have at the bottom of the Master Disc?"

[Taylor] "With all the Secondary districts and the lesser-known factions?"

[Gabriel] "How do you know so much?"

[R8A] "Believe me, I've seen my fair share of events. I'll link you two from your Domains."

[Taylor] "How do you know--"

[Gabriel] "I tend to think ahead, so I forwarded literal years of history to the Announcer. More on that later."

[Taylor] "Everything is coming out of nowhere! Not enough explanation!"


	3. Observation Deck

At the Domain--

[Gabriel] "Yeah, we're going to a new location. I already read the thing that he sent us. It says we go to a place called the Observation Deck."

[Taylor] "Description?"

[Gabriel] "It's a community much like the one you're used to except far out in the Cross Passing. It doesn't even show us what it looks like..."

_Fast forward a few minutes later..._

[Taylor] "Absolutely glorious!... Okay, it's a little empty in here, but I like the "Hanging Gardens of Babylon" aesthetic in here."

It indeed looks like that ancient wonder, though he does have the patience to wait out the verification system outside. Once he and Gabriel are let in, they take in the natural sights and look around at the other mammals (and even Synths[1]!) conversing with each other.

[Gabriel] "Nice place. That R8A guy was quite suspicious but he sure does sound like he has a neat plan."

While looking around, Taylor notices a secluded room hidden behind a set of columns. He marched down the stairs and made his way across the plaza. Moving the grass out of the way, he walked inside, with Gabriel following with a "Where're you running off to?"

[Taylor] "I believe someone may be in here."

There _was_ a light in there, but he's not sure who's burning it. Turning right, he sees four more lights burning, leading them both to...

A mink.

[Taylor] "Yeah, it's just a mink."

The mink turns around.

[???] "A mink with HISTORY. Ever since they ditched me, I've sheltered myself here and studied the worlds behind, and forward. I can show you both exactly what you're going to see if you don't do the right things."

[Taylor] "The future? Is it a good one?"

[???] "By no means. I'm the Observer. Who sent you?"

[Gabriel] "Someone named "R8A-01"."

[Observer] "Ah, him. The entire Garden isn't the Observation Deck. Just here. The place you stepped foot in first is called the Garden Wall. Now, let me show you what I see."

Taylor is seen fighting a mysterious rabbit-like figure in a room littered with graffiti. None of Taylor's staff attacks are connecting, while all of the rabbit's are. Taylor is heard saying "They... They can't be harmed!" After dodging some explosions on the ground by jumping off a wall, Taylor is abruptly met by a sword to the chest. Gabriel, in the background, can be heard saying "Is... Is he dead?" An unknown third party replies to him, "Most certainly." Violently dragged off to who knows where by a bunch of hands ripping his body apart to show the bare skeleton, Taylor's fate is sealed.

Later on, what looks like Branch[2] is having a tough time fighting a vulpine-like figure with similar divine levels of strength and intangibility. Branch dodges all four swings of the fox's long staff... and then gets stabbed with a fifth one. "That's two of our units, GONE." Gabriel says in the background. The rabbit turns around to show the words on his back: "Judgment". The fox does the same, showing "The Moon"

[Observer] "That is this world's bad future. A world with no heroes. A world where the Never Do Wells have interfered with the Creator Sigils. Whoever dies in that bad future reincarnates as a mindless creature. Killing that leaves no hope for return. You both have jobs to do, which is to prevent this bad future. Travel to World B, where all of the Creator's thoughtforms are created. There, you will eliminate all threats to that world, big and small. You will meet new faces there on your journey."

[Taylor] "Some prophecy." 

[Gabriel] "I know where he's coming from. Those Creator Sigils he talked about? You have one. Both Guilds have developed theirs over the years. Tampering with those means irreversibly corrupting a being's spirit to the point of monstrosity."

The Observer teleports them both to World B. Taylor breaks his fall, standing on the grass with his sword activated. Gabriel activates Wonderful Polyester and activates his scythe. Some Neo Twosides[3] show up as the heroes both wreak havoc with their weapons. Gabriel recalls what the Observer said to them both.

_World B. A place where thoughts unite and come alive. Not too long ago, a report was filed claiming an outbreak of "malicious behavior". I immediately knew who to pin it on. Thing is, I didn't know_ where _to pin it on... Until I saw the flaw within myself. Now, the two thoughtforms I've come up with must neutralize the threat while improving the attitude imprinted on both. Overcoming challenges big and small, the road to development will not be a smooth one. Angels, demons, saints, and other such methods of assistance will not be so much as called upon. This is the job for these two young ones. Once the job is complete, then hopefully World A can welcome my influence with open arms._

[Gabriel] "Is World B speaking to us both?"

_The bad future that the Observer spoke of is not a mere illusion when taking into consideration the massive numbers of Never Do Wells and new breeds of Twoside that were developed. The Major Arcana, the "mindless monsters" in question, are Never Do Wells with full control of Creator Sigils. Rendered completely invincible, they are ultimate warriors of evil. The only thing that can kill them is changing the future itself. Chronologos is a good place to start. One of its entrances is stationed right here on World B._

[Gabriel] "Taylor! Catch!"

He tosses a blue, cubic necklace.

[Gabriel] "Wear it. Now."

Taylor does, and a massive blue force field surrounds him, taking out three Neo Twosides.

[Gabriel] "Now just step back a little..." He did just so. "How do you feel?"

[Taylor] "Like a new mammal!"

He brandishes a red whip and cracks it in multiple places rapidly, making short work of the Neo Twosides around him. Their blades cannot even reach him, being pushed aside.

[Gabriel] "Your Junctions can turn in and out of weapons. Cool, right?"

[Taylor] "I'll keep it. No telling how many Junctions are out there willing to kill me!"

[Gabriel] "...."

[Taylor] "Look, a Chronologos station!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: Synths are beings that are humanlike in nature, but possess different qualities from actual humanity.
> 
> 2\. Branch is a Munchkin cat who studies the nature of Junctions in a lab. He is almost always seen in a library reading.
> 
> 3: Neo Twosides are flying, armored variations on the regular Twosides.


	4. Chronologos - III

_Chronologos here is quite different from the one in World A. There are several floors in this ascending tower, and each one takes the visitor to a certain place in the past._

1F: Taylor and Gabriel stop in the middle of the floor, which is a durable glass panel displaying a clock underneath - gears and all. Surrounding them is a few Inputs, which are humanoid machines built to extract the Apport[1]. 

[Taylor] "My necklace is reacting to their presence, and--"

[Gabriel] "Relax. Your necklace and the Apport are made of the same substance. The real one I have to guard is me because I'm keeping the heart of our world safe within me. Watch this."

[Taylor] "The Apport?"

He releases the Apport within himself, turning it into a pair of blue beam swords.

[Gabriel] "When I swing these, any opposer of the Apport is gone in a flash."

An Input jumps towards him, with Gabriel quickly cutting it in half. Turning around, he throws one of the swords at two of them, cutting them in half as well. When the sword returns to him, he effortlessly parries an Input's attack and stabs it. He then throws it behind him, squarely taking out another machine.

[Gabriel] "Did you say your New Year's Resolution was to avoid so much as shaking the Apport from its surface? Avoiding all forms of carnal pleasure?"

[Taylor] "I didn't have any New Year's reso--"

[Gabriel] "You did, kid. It's all written on your face. Well, between how well I fought and how important it is to keep the Apport safe, I think my method works out best."

He puts the swords back inside the Apport and continues into the next floor.

2F: [The Wind Dimension.](https://youtu.be/FDcgFP-Zuq8) A floating island made to look like divine paradise. Its unmistakable platform architecture allows for easy travel between sectors. It's not as large as it looks, but it more than makes up for it with its genius-level design.

[Taylor] "Neat vacation spot, for someone not afraid of heights."

[Gabriel] "Well, we need to make it through here to reach 3F, so hang ten."

They jump between the platforms despite the guardrails being present. Making their way to the main platform, they are flanked by three Neo Twosides and two Inputs.

[Taylor] "Is it true that Inputs can only be killed by those two swords you brandished?"

[Gabriel] "The Apport Busters are emergency weapons. I only pulled them out because I was one hit away from rendering the new Knighthood absolutely meaningless."

[Taylor] "..."

Gabriel proves his point by pulling out a _very_ rare Sync Card[2]. It depicts--

[Gabriel] _"More on that later, the special effects crew is waiting!"_

Gabriel activates it by holding his hand out, and while it disappears four very large blasts of light erupt from the ground, destroying the Inputs and two of the Neo Twosides. Taylor narrowly avoids the giant beams. The card reappears in Gabriel's hand, indicating he gets to keep it.

[Gabriel] "A fraction of power from a Sacred Render. So much for parrying those just frames."

Taylor finishes the job with three clips from one of his (still preserved!) guns. 

[Taylor] "So is there anything else in this massive world that we need to take care of?"

[Gabriel] "Not at the moment. We will probably need to come back here in case one of those mini-sectors activates. The whole place is supposed to change its architecture when that happens."

3F: Branch is there in a large library, dusting off old photos of quotes from an area in World A.

[Branch] "Heh, the Social Club's first sector may be a bygone memory forever lost to a misaimed joke, but it sure was a laugh riot."

Then, a Taylor of a different color appears behind him, armed with what appears to be an Apport Buster. Branch looks at the visitor.

[Branch] "Good feeling's gone."

[The real Taylor] "What are you doing here in Chronologos, Branch?"

The real Taylor fires a shot at his doppelganger but the clone blocks it with his sword.

["Taylor"] "There can only be one future in World B. It's either the Apport Busters or the Desire Stingers."

[Gabriel] "So you must be the evil guy from the bad future."

[Taylor] "So he can time travel now? That's neat. As if the '80s didn't do it over and over again..."

Gabriel attempts to subdue the bad one with his Tether Chain (supplied by Polyester). Bad Future Taylor grabs it and pulls him towards him, the two tumbling into the dark room ahead.

[Branch] "Talk about a wake-up call!"

Much clashing can be heard in the background. Taylor - the real one, oh so eager to help Gabriel out, approaches the door. Branch moves out of the way and suggests something to Taylor:

[Branch] "You know, your friend there seems to be more powerful than he looks. You think he can hold out on his own?"

[Taylor] "One touch of those Stingers to his heart and all of World B will fall into ruin. He has to fight his absolute hardest without my assistance."

Taylor marches on to assist Gabriel.

_A massive fire engulfs the dark room once Taylor uses one of his Junctions (Phobos) to light the room up. The Bad Future Taylor flees through the window upon seeing his good counterpart enter the room, leaving the two heroes free reign to enter 4F._

[Gabriel] "The Apport can see trouble in the next room. Let me use the Apport Busters this time. You can disable the Inputs."

[Taylor] "Wood is pretty durable in this room, don't you think?"

[Gabriel] _"Ah, this one has a low attention span for sure."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] The Apport is a version of the Influence that isn't as strong as the real deal. It is a lesser supplement for Temptation resistance than the Influence but it is still powerful in the right hands.
> 
> [2] Sync Cards are items activated with Junction Links that enable temporary use of powerful abilities.


	5. Capital Siege

Once Taylor and Gabriel enter the next room...

4F: Gabriel activates his Apport Busters and combines them into one sword. Taylor stays back and shields him from Inputs. Out of nowhere, silhouetted mammals of all kinds jump out of the room's shadows. They wear shirts with card suits on them.

[Taylor] _"Three of Diamonds...?"_

Another one appears and starts talking.

[???] "Diamond Three, target appears to be armed with powerful weaponry."

[Three of Diamonds] "Redistribute tactics as necessary. Focus on division and conquer."

[Taylor] "Who are these guys?"

[Gabriel] "The Sleights. Cats and dogs and rabbits and moose and mice and foxes named after card suits. They appear only to challenge the Apport."

[Taylor] "Are they after me or you?"

[Gabriel] "Yes."

The Sleights jump after Gabriel, who quickly cuts them all down with one swipe of his sword. Five more Sleights join in after, and Gabriel replies with an Apport Laser which sweeps all the Sleights off their feet and blows them up.

[Gabriel] "Never gotten hit yet."

Three more appear. Taylor tries his hand at it by switching to his guns and firing away.

[Gabriel] "If you must fight, do it with style. I suggest waiting for the enemy to approach, then parrying or countering their attack. Or both."

Taylor puts them away and waits for an approach. One of the Sleights runs toward him. Taylor's immediate reply is to summon his Junction and slam them behind him.

[Taylor] "That's one. WHat about..."

He activates his Apport Necklace and takes Phoebe out for a spin. The triple dose of lightning strikes physically melt the Sleights to nothing.

[Taylor] "Do you have a Junction?"

Gabriel cracks a smile as he reveals a Command Dial on his left arm. It makes a full rotation as the seemingly limitless horde of Sleights comes along.

[Gabriel] "I'm gonna need it for this next wave."

The Command Dial opens up and emits a signal. Another Command Dial then replaces the satellite dish that came up. From behind Gabriel appears a massive (as in, stands taller than Gabriel himself) replica of Judy wearing a wedding dress.

[Gabriel] "Meet Apparition-DG, also known as UltJunction_bridalicon."

[Taylor] "And who is she supposed to be, someone's wife?"

[Gabriel, chuckling] "You'd be mistaken although she can give off that impression. She is an Ultimate Junction, a manifestation of a soul without limits. Release the harnesses imprinted on your very being through sheer bravery, and you can get one that will fight its hardest. Now..."

Gabriel throws off his mask, revealing his true nature: Just another fox with divine status, with darker fur than the one all of Zootopia knows. He then has Apparition-DG aim her bow at the wave of Sleights approaching. The charged lightning arrow is released and covers up the detonating army with a plethora of supercharged fireworks.

[Gabriel] " **Happy New--"**

[Taylor] "We are four days in. Don't 'Happy New Year' anything."

[Gabriel] "Have you ever tried letting yourself go?"

_5F. A dreamlike state puts Taylor in another world entirely. Gabriel, unable to step in, can only watch as Taylor navigates the divine quarters. Hallways dotted with golden light, gigantic bells, and angel statues only further the mystery behind the new world. Taylor learns some new tricks around an old church when he suddenly finds himself unable to use any of his weapons. Blocking, countering, parrying. All of this against one of his own Junctions, Phoebe. In her purest form, that's all Taylor could do. The rooms were bizarre - often placing Taylor high up in the air with a fixed perspective - but they were lined with buckets of insight and enlightenment._

_The Audibles were heard._

_"Yes, the Sacred Render was right. Letting loose and enjoying the moment is a key factor in avoiding rash behavior."_

_"Demonstrating such a humble attitude will only carry you farther in your journey of self-discovery."_

_[Taylor] "Are you two speaking to me?"_

_"Of course not. World B can hear us soundly."_


	6. The Link

[A world with no name unfurls around Taylor as he leaves 6F and up to Gabriel.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28599270/chapters/70093569)


	7. To the Top

Gabriel's advance to 6F allowed him to see a side of Chronologos that was previously undocumented. He knew that no two worlds share a Chronologos, but at least all the areas looked familiar to him.

Not this one. It was a dark room, with nothing but him and a stylized anthropomorphic tigress in front of him. He tries using his voice.

[Gabriel] "Hello? What's your name--"

[???] "Hush. I'm prolonging the sands of time. He's yet to get up."

A hazy field of view reveals a realistic setting. The point of view? A desk, with a computer in front of it. This scenario was all too familiar to Gabriel.

[Gabriel] "Hey, stop the clock! Let him move!"

[???] "No. There is no such thing as enough free time. The yelling will cease after a while."

[Gabriel] "At the cost of him becoming a Twoside inside?"

[???] "Everyone is like that. Give it time."

Gabriel's frustration prompted him to conjure a heavy rifle out of Polyester. Firing a bomb from it detonates the dark room. Gabriel and the tigress, Annabelle by name, survive the explosion and end up in a dark grassy field.

[Gabriel] _"Is this still Chronologos? It's said to record all areas known to time, even areas that don't exist in that world..."_

Annabelle charges at Gabriel on sight. The fallen angel holds up his hand and watches as a Junction, Ra (grey feline wearing a sweater) emerges from the Sync Station[1] and rams Annabelle with a motorcycle. 

Slightly taken aback but nonetheless untouched, Annabelle prepares divide and conquer tactics, hovering in the air. She makes them both dodge three vertical energy beams (not all at once) followed by a literal firewall.

As for her next attack, where three gears rotate around her, Ra follows her into a world of stopped time. He easily incapacitates her with a chop that cuts the wall between the present and the future apart, undoing the time stop.

[Ra, with a slightly raspy voice] "I've seen that trick a thousand times. What other pranks are you going to pull today?"

[Annabelle] "I learned that the brat can talk, now I'm about to learn--"

[Ra] "The brat you refer to is way older than 16. Think six digits ahead."

[Annabelle] "I don't have time to resort to math to fix my issues. All I want to do is have time assist me in the ultimate procrastination job!"

In the time it took her to say that, Gabriel already had a gun to her head.

[Gabriel] _"Thanks for the distraction. Being rather small for someone of your species in World C does not mean anything when referring to physical or spiritual strength, or even your age."_

[Gabriel] "If you decide to even look at him funny, that's 7.5 grams of lead going up there."

[Annabelle] "Even knowing that time is a tool I can use at will?"

[Gabriel] "Us angels know everything about that and how to counter it."

[Annabelle] "Prove it."

Annabelle freezes time while at the same time Gabriel fires the gun. He _also_ unfurled one of his wings while he was at it, giving him all the freedom to move in frozen time.

[Gabriel] "Huh, why didn't I lead with this? ...Oh wait, Ra did it before I could even _think_ of doing it."

While Annabelle waits for Gabriel, the fallen angel forms a bow out of Polyester and fires it, impaling Annabelle and reverting all of her effects. 

[Gabriel] _"Her design strikes me as familiar. Did she take a page out of Catty Soul's book?"_

Gabriel thought of this while freefalling through the darkness. A stained-glass platform awaited him at the bottom like in 5F. This time, though...

Taylor was covered in crystalline blue matter seemingly made out of the Apport.

[Gabriel] "Huh, a material the devil himself could kill to get his hands on... you're just _covered_ in the stuff."

He also noticed that Taylor was channeling it in his body, which also happened to prevent any Apport resisters from entering the room.

[Gabriel] "Never seen a non-angel use the Apport in such a fashion. Is it linked to the necklace? Seeing as how there are no enemies around, it has to be."

Taylor's eyes opened!

[Taylor] "The week is free, Gabriel. The entire rest of the weeks and months that come after will be victims to the Divide. The split in the sky that separates our worlds from the great future... It will encompass all and swallow up immoral desire. It is yet years away."

[Gabriel] "I never told you my name. How do you know that all of a sudden?"

[Taylor?] "Who said it was Taylor speaking to you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Sync Stations are the portals that appear when Junctions are summoned.


	8. And this is where... |Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bite-sized offering of the next event.

The floor changed its appearance, taking Gabriel to a place called the Hall of Trials. It's a hallway filled with blue, ornate doors.

[Gabriel] "Can I get a name, whoever's talking over Taylor?"

[Taylor?] "We call ourselves the Audibles. Sound and Voice, those are mere titles. Our appearance cannot be fathomed here in this world, but our essences would be more than happy to assist you."

[Gabriel] "Alright, tell me about this place right here."

[Audibles] "This is the area where Taylor performed his... shadier practices. Most recently though, we saw his facsimile take down his former boss as he moved on to a higher floor."

[Gabriel] "How do you know so much? Where is he?"

[Audibles] "One question at a time. We are not the true Saints of Sound, we are merely his projection of us. He is down there left of the initial few doors. Turn the corner and enter the second door on the right. Ascend the staircase and you will find him."

[Gabriel] "Got it."


	9. And this is where... |Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Non-dialogue for the most part

Gabriel runs forward then turns left as the Audibles told him to. Entering the second door, he sees a translucent Taylor staring at a golden wall. The wall has six different Creator Sigils on them, but they are obviously not of this world. Could World C have an effect on Chronologos? Or was it another thing entirely? 

Gabriel steps closer and closer, limiting his speed so as not to alert Taylor to his presence. He hears a voice, and the next thing he knows, Taylor has already gone to the next room. Gabriel quickly steps close to the door, again limiting his approach to keep a low profile.

Taylor, meanwhile, confronts a doppelganger of him atop what looks like a tilted wall breaching into space. The wall is the floor. The clone reveals itself with a helmer that covers up his entire face and all Gabriel can hear back there is something about an "ultimate desire". Taylor summons Phoebe, Phoebe summons her ally, Amon, and Taylor additionally summons a tiny yet powerful mouse who only goes by the name "Mia". Like Ra, she can control time, made evident when she slows down time to give Phoebe and Amon an advantage. Their combined control over lightning and fire propels the other Taylor high above the air. 

The doppelganger lands safely despite the damage he took and charges up an attack. The Junctions line up around Taylor in a phalanx formation as they prepare to block the attack... but the dashing blow powers through the line and damages Taylor a bit. The other Taylor follows up with spear formations that appear on the ground and prop up to launch Taylor. The clone then sees an opportunity to follow it up with several more air combos by going into a chrysanthemum form and going wild with the vines. The vines open up their buds to reveal plant whips that have smaller buds at the end of them that do more damage. Taylor - the real one - is knocked here and there by the monumental size of the plant whips. 

Phoebe sees an opportunity. She gets Amon to burn the stem using a beam of fire generated from his right paw. Once he has done that, the other Taylor - dubbed "4129" - notices and releases himself from the plant. His Junction, Apparition-CC - described as a gold-furred being of idealized appearance - releases herself and goes after Phoebe. Amon and Mia pitch in, which leaves Taylor and 4129 to themselves... until Taylor brings out Phobos. However, his electric whip fails to do anything to the armored facsimile. 4129 destroys him in one hit and calls Apparition-CC to him. They both ascend to the sky slowly, fusing with one another. The result is a gold-furred, super-powered, Temptation-fueled mammal of domination, with his arm and leg bracelets adorned with angelic designs and a helmet that determines ultimate sovereignty.

Gabriel then arrives on the scene, with both Junction users - and Taylor's Junctions - noticing his arrival. With no time to lose, he transforms his paw into a gigantic tattoo-like dragon mouth and grabs 4129, and flings him upward - with nobody able to do anything in the confusion of the battle. He then reverts his paw to normal and leaps upward, more than eager to fight the clone. 4129 intercepts his ascent with a beam saber to the face. A vine lifts him up and breaks his fall, then several more golden ones appear and juggle him in the air. Gabriel replies to this botanical siege with a swarm of blade attacks around him, cutting the vines and whips apart. A powerful left hook later, and 4129 is on the ground. This leaves him open to the wrath of all three of Taylor's Junctions at once, including Taylor himself, who promptly destroys 4129 with a blade fueled by the power of three souls.

* * *

Mere hours later, Taylor is seen walking through one of Chronologos' Time Gates in 7F: A Time Gate is a sleek metal circle that leads into another era in time altogether. 

The one he enters takes him outside a school building. There is a large blue van parked next to a tree. Taylor steps towards it as a [quite familiar tune](https://youtu.be/EuGPjJbrAV4) starts playing for some inexplicable reason. Opening the door, the music plays in full as Taylor gets a panoramic view of the entire van - the wooden floors and shelves conceal monumental amounts of content, from books to movies to audiobooks. However, the music is clearly pointing to something else; that brightly colored box on the lowest shelf. It's labeled "Zootopia". 

That was it. That was what World A called "the documentary". The music brought him to terms with this movie - it was the thing that set off the "domino effect" that Taylor kept reading so much about. Branch had also read about it, but not to the extent Taylor had. This was the first step towards finding the way to the city known as...

_But who discovered it? Who was the mammal - or Synth, even - brought up to move to this fine location and transcend their nature, becoming something that they'd never turn back from?_

Taylor takes it and also extracts the CD from which the music on the playback device is playing. He then heads to the school building in question. He walks into the classroom building on the right.

_Alright, smallest TV box in the room, check. DVD player, check. Put the movie in, cut the TV on, and..._

The Time Gate can be heard talking. 

"June 7, 2016. The Wanderer makes contact with the story of a lifetime. Characters, settings, and movement instill a feeling that can be felt throughout time and space. Years after have seen the impact such a resolution can bring to them, and the Wanderer is not the first to receive it. Mammals from all over can be detected gaining a new outlook on a future community, the guidelines of which having been outlined from the start. Anyone can be anything."

Taylor is suddenly warped out of the Time Gate, having completed the steps needed to start the "domino effect". He briefly sees other events happening in the warp zone's background, but there is no time to take everything in before landing in a large circular room, dubbed the "Stage of Inspiration". Gabriel is also there, hiding from Taylor. Taylor takes two steps forward and overviews the wall. Two panels emerge and show him two very inspirational stories. Taylor reads through them both.

_Nope. They failed to touch me even on a small level. I guess I'm--_

"You feeling down or anything? Are you too used to your crystal abode?"

Gabriel's voice broke Taylor's train of thought. The feline turns towards the fallen angel and says these words.

"Perhaps these lines of text you're showing me could use some heartwarming."

"They're as heartwarming as they can be! ...Taylor, are you hiding something from me?"

Taylor gives the fallen angel the least subtle frown he could muster.

"I think you already know what it is."

He then takes a metal sword with thirteen moving parts in it and supercharges it, turning the blade blue, then brown, then black. The blade's energy fully envelops him, giving him a dark appearance. Wings, an outfit with belts, the whole getup. The wall then breaks apart as a yellow chain subdues Taylor and weakens him.

"Now now. We don't want to harm our guests, now do we?"

It was the Observer's voice. He didn't physically appear, but a gigantic yellow sphere with a Twoside's face did. 

"I call this "Pensive Gaia". Now bring that depressed boy over here."

Gabriel fires back with a "Over my burning dead body I will!". He then fires a supercharged arrow at Pensive Gaia's face, cracking it a bit. All the fallen angel could do was try to get close with his scythe, dodging the eye beams and ram attacks. Notably, the wall's background depicted World A, making Gabriel think that this area of Chronologos was near Zootopia. He'd never see the city or its waters at that distance, though the distance he's seeing it at is seriously making him think about where this room is.

Once the massive ball of depression rams into the room one more time, the entire tower collapses and Gabriel jumps at Gaia. Refusing to let go, the fallen angel keeps bashing the Twoside, cracking more parts of the wicked sphere's body. Once most of its body was cracked, making it lighter, Gabriel grabs one of the fleshy springs keeping the thing stable, and spins it around. He lets go, and the sphere flies high above the city of Zootopia after a while.

"Oh, I forgot."

He conjures a rocket launcher with Polyester and fires it. Upon impact with Gaia, the planet-sized depression sphere blows up, its remains falling into the waters of World A.

"Ah, crap."

The tower collapses more, forcing Gabriel to dive into it and rescue Taylor. Flying out of there with a black-footed cat in tow, they make their way towards World C.


	10. The Link - II

[Taylor was still out of it, his mind in a completely different location where the events of this world do not matter.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28599270/chapters/70093569) He has yet to know the true nature of the Observer.


	11. Fragmentary

Taylor wakes up, with Gabriel no longer in sight. He's in the Domain, as usual. However, when he gets to the room where R8A contacted him with the computer, he notices that behind the office chair there was a blank canvas. It encouraged him to pick up the stylus and start drawing something with it.

Without warning, a console log appears within Taylor's field of vision. It started displaying tons of info related to his current mental state. The part that caught his eye, though, was this string of text:

"Mode of Craft: 10"

_What did it mean? Why was this console log even there in the first place?_

Taylor just kept on drawing, and with it, the field around him began to change, with the floor he and his drawing board sits on remaining unchanged.

* * *

> Mode of craft: 10
> 
> x axis; y axis successfully configured
> 
> begin copying trace model judy_1.tex
> 
> mistakes will be made, remember this
> 
> hesitation correction patch applied to sector 00CF 1156
> 
> terminal: cease operation terminated by handle

* * *

Only the most important text strings were captured here, for the sheer mess of the code displayed on the log was too much to jot down all at once. The closer Taylor got to the completed result, the more surreal the changing backgrounds became. 

The ruins of a wrecked city become the skylines of a futuristic civilization, which unfold to reveal a world map. Transitioning to the middle of a space shuttle that conceals a fabulous art museum.

[Taylor] "Is... is it done? My two traces, plus my two freehands! ...This is probably something symbolic."

Another Taylor poked his head out of the wall, approaching without a voice. He draws a Cat's Meow replica.. and swings at the drawing canvas, the real one snatching the completed drawing away before any serious damage could be done to it. He then tosses it aside and draws his own sword. The two cats get blue (real) and red (duplicate) outlines.

Two clashes, followed by a miss. 

Blue swings and misses, Red does an overhead that barely misses.

Red swings again; is parried and countered by Blue, who goes for a combo.

Red breaks the combo by jumping and executing a flying kick.

Blue jumps back and fires one of his guns.

Red blocks it with a shield made of digital drawing pens. Three of the pens fly at Blue.

Blue slides under the projectiles and cuts through the shield, Red barely parries an incoming swing.

Red pushes Blue back and launches a sword wave with a swing. 

Blue jumps and hangs on the overhead light; jumps to the next one and descends to surprise Red.

Red, taken aback, is pinned to the ground, Blue aims his gun at him.

"That was the first trial. Not bad, huh?"

[Taylor] "Could have been longer. Barely worked up a sweat fighting him. Wait, who is this?"

[Gabriel] "Your local black-caped ally, Gabriel."

[Taylor] "Why did you never tell me your name?"

[Gabriel] "Figured that someone would call me by it and you would pick up on their cues."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://images-ext-2.discordapp.net/external/n1LSQ6N9zDmKnJDXcb4evNB1kpZy5VT4jcC0DED5Fdk/%3Fwidth%3D534%26height%3D401/https/media.discordapp.net/attachments/412767256469176322/798366669755383808/20210111_204340.jpg?width=400&height=300


	12. Wait, what happened before the last chapter?

Gabriel places Taylor in his bed at his Domain. He pulls up a detailed map of Taylor's mind and begins operating on it with two surgical metals made of Polyester (no, not the fabric, it's a special type of energy that looks like tattoos)

Slowly but steadily, he searches for the defect that caused Taylor to take on that hideous form in Chronologos. He scans the perimeter, and...!

[Gabriel] "Found you! Had to be a Twoside."

It was a special parasitic breed called a Pensive Worm. Having dug itself into Taylor's head to allow Pensive Gaia to find him, the parasite warped his form so that he couldn't communicate regularly, making Gaia's surprise attack all the more deadly.

Gabriel carefully grabs the Worm, startling it enough for it to attempt to move away _very_ quickly. He pulls the tweezers back and relocates the parasite.

[Gabriel] "Again. Now, hold still..."

He pins it down using the needle in his left hand, giving his right hand room to finally grab it and slowly move it out. 

[Gabriel] "Alright, a little more, and... got it!"

He flings it to the right side and quickly disintegrates it with a tiny energy beam from his finger. Taylor's form reverts, allowing Gabriel to tell him this when he fully awakes.

_You were placated by a Twoside. In order to take down the one responsible for sending you on this daunting path, I will need for you to improve your skills. Your art skills. I'm not saying you need to join that Guild - as powerful as you are that would be a massive boon - but your power must increase in strides. The Observer's power is far too great for just any Guild member to take on. Take to that canvas, and draw us some Proto Junctions - gradual steps to the next life._

[Taylor] "Alright, alright, alright. When did the Observer become evil?"

[Gabriel] "I have no idea but he sent us a huge Twoside yesterday."

[Taylor] "He who sends us on a quest of self-realization proves himself to be a massive jerk himself?"

[The Observer, through the Domain's computer] "Excuse me, cat, but that's my Junction you're using. If I have to drag you back to Purgatory to make you realize your certain fate - and retake my Junction - then I will."

Gabriel puts Taylor back to sleep, sending him inside a parallel world identical to this one.

[Gabriel] "Over his dead body would he hand her over!"


	13. Never Change, Twosides. Never Change.

A Bengal without a name takes up hand-to-hand combat against a fleet of Neo Twosides alongside some normal ones. 

He smacks one aside...

Jumps over another and snipes it with a small energy beam...

Kicks one in the distance....

Breakdances, kicking two of them away...

Jumps up high and kicks two more away...

And finally grabs one by the legs and powerfully slams it on the ground, smashing its head open.

"Ah, so much for that interlude, right?"

Taylor, who was wandering that area that day looking for another empty Magic Poster, crosses paths with him.

"An experiment in the art of lines and circles. That is my purpose. I've come to see you right here at Interlude Palace. Isn't it luxurious, seeing all the plants and pristine white architecture?"

[Taylor] "That's real interesting, but where do you originate?"

"You! Your knack for the visual arts brought you here despite the path of the Narrative saying otherwise."

The Palace's alarm system goes off as several types of Twoside invade the room.

"What does he want with me now?!"

[Taylor] "Who do you refer to?"

"The Observer. He has beef with almost everyone for some odd reason and he's got a couple of demons workin' with him. That includes enough Twosides to make both of these worlds depressed as sh__."

[Taylor] "So let's fight!"

"I have a better idea. Let's run to a safe place and we'll pick them off from there."

[Taylor] "We have all the room in the universe here! Let's do it so that we....oh."

Among the enemies, there were Twosides, Neo Twosides, Liquid Twosides, and a God Sphere or two. Clearly too many for them both to handle let alone one individual.

Then, out of nowhere, the palace's glass ceiling shattered and bits of architecture started floating up in the air.

**"Your acceptance in our group will be mandatory whether you like it or not."**

"Alright now, don't do anything funny to my head!"

**"Enter depressive stage 2. We could use another Twoside type."**

[Taylor] "Wait, what are you--"

Positioned sky high above a collapsing World B, the new one starts summoning vertical pillars that block Taylor from getting close to him. Inside his head were the essences of Twoside faces that impede the way of rational thinking. This same essence is what gives these monsters their unmoving willingness to hinder thought in favor of self-harm and insanity. Such things are what Taylor abhors, saddened to see a potential new friend endure this fate.

Taylor moves in with his Keyblade, Sandy’s Memory. 

Knocked back by a barrier, all hope for Taylor seems lost…

Until the soul inside the weapon, Catty Soul, flies out of there and tackles the new one down to a crystalline platform. She restlessly keeps him busy until Taylor regains his composure and fights alongside her.

[Taylor] “Let’s face it, depression sucks. That’s why we wholesome people seek to bash it out of the world.”

[Bengal] “I don’t see anyone else complaining.”

[Taylor] “Well that’s because they are either Twosides meaning they’ve already hit that deep, dark layer of depression, or--”

Catty Soul interrupts him by blocking Bengal’s two swords and then kicking him aside. He reveals his Liquid Twoside armor granted to him by the Observer’s new parasite, the Pensive Mist.

[Catty Soul] “I swear that mink’s drugs could poison the entire Out There if they could.”

Bengal surprises them both with a double helix laser attack that sweeps the ground.

They dodge sideways, and Catty Soul replies with a series of superfast attacks that catch Bengal off-guard.

He reacts by combining both of his swords and spinning them around, nearly throwing Catty Soul back a few feet.

She rushes towards him and clashes with his weapon. The two stay at each other’s midsts until…

[Taylor] “Alright, catch this.”

He wields both Cat’s Meow and Sandy’s Memory and cleaves Bengal in two. Surprisingly his body is unharmed, but the Pensive Mist that formed in his mind was cleared. He says these words upon regaining his composure, taking everyone back to World B:

_Putting the art in artisan is one of the best things to come to our attention in recent years. Do not let those lines and circles become a part of your imagination. Do something with them and arrange a pretty picture. A master art teacher who is still struggling in certain areas as myself… I know I should be doing that._

[Taylor] “What’s your name?”

“Cavan.”


	14. Depressive Link (or: ERROR: "depressive =/= pensive" RESOLUTION NOT FOUND:80 LINK)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The individuals that come into this world seek happiness and favor with one another. However, some see nothing but pain coming down here. Some of them grin and bear it. Some desire not to see this world with their very eyes, knowing how much destruction it carries in the hearts of many. Then there are those that let the negativity consume them, becoming shadows of their former selves. We call these Twosides. Our squad is devoted to exterminating Twosides and healing those that have become infected with their essence. Depression is what we live to fight, and our weapons carry the cleanest material necessary to survive the oncoming onslaught.
> 
> Beatum manet corda nostra.

"Cavan... there's no purpose seeking my soul here. These vines will reclaim what was once the property of the Twosides. All will lead back into depression, which will eat itself like the snake that bites its own tail."

"Stop talking that mess, Taylor! Where's your head at?"

"In the minds of those who refuse to help with my circumstances. Like everyone at--"

"What about me?!" 

"Do you ever do anything except get in the way of _my_ plans?"

"You did this to yourself. You avoid that d-word, fight Twosides as your life depends on it, and look at you. You let yourself get to your head and let your immaturity control you like a selfish old weasel!"

"...."

**MERE DAYS EARLIER...**

(Sequence 1)  
  


Taylor and Cavan engage a massive battle tank simply named the Pensive Tank, as it is a construct of the Twosides.

It fires a single shot, and Taylor bats the projectile aside with Cat's Meow.

Cavan moves in and dismantles it with his two beam sword-like weapons - called Light Fangs. The cleaving sound of his swords helps with the satisfying sight of a tank being cut clean in half.

They both high-five each other for their accomplishment.  
  
[Taylor]: "I feel like I can do that again and again, even though I didn't land the finishing blow!"

[Cavan] "You're right. Let's keep looking for Twosides to bash in."  
  
However, something stirs up within Taylor....

**5%**

(Sequence 2)

Six Twosides surround the group in the middle of World B.

[Cavan] "Don't watch the mouth, watch the paws."

The watch on his left arm displays a red light on the center, on the circle at the top near the 12. He then prepares a fighting stance.

Two of the Twosides approach him but he casts them all back with a flame pillar he activated with a snap of the fingers.

He raises his arms high and swarms the other four with a large gale, giving Taylor the opportunity to move in and cut them all down.

[Taylor] "Good work there, partner!"

[Cavan] "That was the work of a stance system called the Inspiration Zone. Tracing the powers of others in World A using this watch means that no two combos of mine are the same.

[Taylor] "Interesting. _Is it just me, or do I feel a little strange inside?_ "

**10%**

(Sequence 3)

Pensive Joker. A court jester with a ~~mean~~ depressive streak. He has a habit of shocking those with his electric baton.

Cavan pulls out some cards of his own, switches the light to Yellow, then throws all five of the cards at Joker.

Joker jumps out of the cards' range. Cavan puts on a smug look as he impales the Joker on his Light Fang.

The Joker belts out a giggle as the "joker" that Cavan impaled turns into a pile of cards. Cavan smothers him under his foot, then kicks the ace of spades away.

Pensive Joker, now dazed, is left open to Cavan's Magic Crosshair, which wipes him out in seconds.

[Taylor] "I didn't get to do much!"

[Cavan] "Well, I suggest you start moving and declare war on these monsters."

[Taylor] "You move way before I do and--"

[Cavan] "Huh? Do I hear excuses? The least you could do is cooperate."

**25%**

(Sequence 4)

Two God Spheres. 

Taylor tries to move forward to attack this time, but his legs, turning yellow, physically impede his progress.

[Taylor] " _What's this? Depressive faces?! This is a sign that I've been partially infected! Am I a Twoside? How much of me is one?"_

[Cavan] "Are you okay? Can you move?"

[Taylor] "I clearly cannot! My legs are fixed firmly to the ground unless I move away from these things!"

[Cavan] "Oh no..."

Cavan annihilates one of the God Spheres with a Sweep Laser and drives the other one to the ground with an airborne wrestling move.

[Cavan] "Let me get you up!"

Suddenly, Taylor could move.

[Cavan] "Huh? Your legs are functioning..."

[Taylor] "That's what the Twosides inside of me want you to think! The more dep--"

**50%**

(Sequence 5a)

A... strange luminary apparatus that floats around and fires rings. It's covered with other rings: two on its left side, two on its right side, one on the top, and a big one around it.

[Taylor] "I want to touch it."

[Cavan] "Are you crazy? It might make you depress--"

[Taylor] " **I know.** "

**55%**

(Sequence 5b)

Back where it all began: The Interlude Palace. This time it was a single, simplistically designed white hallway sparsely decorated with _Zootopia_ posters. The windows are as bright as the sun as usual, but the right wall notably showed off the entire Palace from the top floor blocked with glass...

[Cavan] "Alright, now I need answers. Keep it the size of at least a paragraph."

[Taylor] "Look, Bengal, everyone keeps pushing me aside when I say I need help."

[Cavan] "Help with what?"

[Taylor] "My attitude. My maturity. My tact. My behavior. Everything I say makes no sense anymore because they all expect me to do it on my own. But no, sometimes we need help. "Not me," they say, going about their merry way. Well, guess what. If I have to absorb all of World B into myself and feed it to the Twosides so that they can invade World A, I will!"

[Cavan] "What are--"

[Taylor] "What I'm saying is that..."

He puts his paws over his mouth and screams _**"I'M DEPREEEEEEEEESED!!"**_ so loudly that Cavan has to cover his ears as the glass in the room shatters. The Pensive Flow that surrounds Taylor knocks him out and carries him out of the Palace. Cavan sees this and attempts to hang onto Taylor's sleeping body. The Flow causes him to slip away and hit the floor. Several types of Twosides block every cardinal direction he can face.

**80%**

(Sequence 8.65535143890....)

Taylor, still sleeping, is placed inside of a triangle-shaped machine that glows yellow. The Flow left not a stitch on his body, as was Cavan except for his watch. The machine closes itself as Taylor lies dormant.

The machine activates with the help of a Twoside manning the computer. 

"Sequence is now **90%** complete. The strongest Twoside variant is now in our hands. Spread the vines."

Taylor's body unwittingly did just so. The vines cover the entire room just after the Twoside finalizes the process and bolts out of there. The purple vines are toxic in nature, poisoning both mind and soul.

Cavan showed up in time to see the vines flood the room. He carefully steps between each plant, hoping to reach Taylor's room here in the Nigh Infinite.

Taylor wakes up, his face being replaced by that of a Twoside's.

[Cavan] "Finally! You're awake!"

[Taylor] "World A is mine. Now move aside before I consume you too."

[Cavan] "Over my cold dead body. I'm not moving from this spot until you redeem yourself. Properly show what it means to be a mature individual."

[Taylor] "Go on."

[Cavan] "Speak with tact!"

[Taylor] "All the time."

[Cavan] "Handle responsibility well!"

[Taylor] "...."

[Cavan] "Don't go too harsh on others when angry!"

[Taylor] "I try my hardest."

[Cavan] "Can you start thinking of others? Those who aren't you? They have lives to live, feelings like you yourself do! Do the world a simple favor and--"

**200%**

[Taylor] "Can I sleep with the Depressive Pensives?"

[Cavan] "The what?"

Taylor surrounds the entire room with slowly constricting vines.

[Taylor] "Soon, the whole world will bow to my influence, and neither Guild nor Divinity can prevent the surge."

[Sequence 999]

[Cavan] "All 14 of you guys are giving me issues bigger than HIS inventory."

One Bengal vs Sixteen different types of Custom Twosides. Between Cavan's four styles and their erratic movement, only strategy could win this fight...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Each Sequence (except 8) takes place within hours of each other.


	15. The Harriers and Where to Find Them

(World B - Prairie)

[R8A-01] "He did not listen to my warning about how those who are recognized can tear a lesser one down. He drove himself to a confined area and surrounded himself amongst the Twosides. His new friend is now stuck where the sun doesn't shine, and now I must ask you to assist him as soon as possible."

[Gabriel] "Where are the Harriers when you need them?"

[R8A] "The who?"

[Gabriel] "The Harriers are..."  
  
  
  
(Purgatory) 

[Quarter] "I see him!"

[Melody] "Alright, Sharp. Chin up."

[Crescendo] "When will the new one arrive?"

[Melody] "When she gets here!"

Amidst a whole group of Twosides. The intense firefight continues as Quarter fires a few rounds at some Twosides tailing her. She reaches for the fallen body above, cradles him, and carries him off.

[Quarter] "I'll be right back!"

[Sharp] "We'll see you at World B!"

[Crescendo] "Yeah, we'll try not to die while we're at it!"

(Urban Tracking Street)

A greyscale vulpine female - Caroline by name. Casually beheading Twosides as they approach, she flips and twists all around the arena, destroying her enemies with grace and majesty. A feared fighter where she lives, Caroline tends to replace words with actions, eliminating any threats she may come across. However, in spite of her strong-armed nature, she is quite meek in a non-combat zone. Taking a calm break, she peeks behind a world portal shortly before taking a sip of tea.

(World B - Prairie)

Sharp flies out of a Purgatory portal, prompting Quarter to check on him.

[Sharp] "The new one, whatever her name is. Caroline, was it?"

[Quarter] "I cannot control her arrival. Only she can."

R8A, having been there from the start, speaks up.

[R8A] "There she is."

A Twoside's body flies toward the three. Quarter pops its head off with one bullet, and they all watch the new one in the distance demolish the other three. Two with a single chop, and one with a neck snap.

[R8A] "Our new ally looks strong."

[Quarter] "Indeed. She does not take any nonsense from her enemies at all. Her strength comes from her complete exhaustion at seeing all the depressed ones around her. She wants out of that zone."

[Gabriel] "[Sounds like somebody I know.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27678416/chapters/70590006)"


	16. After the Polar Worlds: A State of Emergency

The cat cafe lands on the shores of World B. Exactly one feline is present in the room, thankfully.

Taylor exits the place and looks around at the empty yet refreshing beachside.

In the water behind him was an extending hand covered in tattoos. It seemed to beg Taylor to grab it. A cat's face appears on the arm to further convey its purpose.

Taylor hesitantly grabs the arm and the tattoos glow and transfer to Taylor's left arm - the one he grabbed it with.

Wasting no time at all, Taylor forcibly parries a gigantic rock construct that the arm throws at him. A mere test of skill.

The arm descends into the water, never to be seen again.

[Taylor] "It's a shame the lady in the la-- no, the beach didn't give me a sword instead..."

The tattoos are actually a Junction attached to Taylor's arm, called Ophelia. Taking the form of a female cat's head, she allows Taylor to parry any attack using his non-dominant arm.

(Sequence B)

All four of the Harriers alongside Gabriel, R8A-01, Caroline, and even Branch were fighting seemingly endless hordes of Taylor clones called Depress Shock Troopers. These mass-produced menaces have the kind of claws that would tear through most predators.

Marching up the hill, the real Taylor could see them all fighting near the huge vine-filled tower that Depress:LINK was hiding in.

Running toward the tower, a fox with a visor on his head stopped him. He landed right in front of Taylor and intercepted every attempt he made at moving forward.

[Vulptex-01] "First, you must embrace the pensive."

[Taylor] "First, you must kindly step aside and return wherever you came from. I have no dealings with those of the Twoside alliance.

[Vulptex-01] "First, you must embrace--"

Taylor fires a few bullets at his visor, causing him to jump back and throw five razor-sharp feather needles from his right paw.

Taylor counters those feathers with more bullets and swerves around to fire a volley of more.

Vulptex blocks all of them with a Twoside-faced barrier. He then rushes at Taylor, a futuristic sword drawn.

Taylor attempts to parry his advance, but to his confusion, Vulptex has teleported around to meet his side and attempt to get a clean hit in.

Taylor's attempt to parry that is met with a barrage of sword attacks with some helpings from his Winged Twosides. The searing effect that the sword imparts on those struck by it leaves marks on Taylor's fur. Vulptex then launches Taylor to the other side of the room and starts charging up.

Taylor is not willing to let that happen, so he snipes Vulpex from far away with two bullets laced with Kitty Magic.

Vulptex sees the attack coming and recites an incantation while retreating in a Twoside-faced portal.

[Taylor] "Alright, alright, alright. Let's not kick a cat while he's down--"

A **gigantic** skyscraper emerges from the other side while Taylor gets up.

[Taylor] "You trying to kill me, you depressed motherf__ker?!"

[Vulptex] "Embrace it."

[Taylor] "How can I embrace something I hate with every fiber of my being?!"

Taylor jumps on the skyscraper, runs on it, and ends up inside the portal where the skyline of another tall building awaits them both. They seemingly endlessly rotate through the tower, meeting each other face to face as the scenery spins.

[Vulptex] "Get ready...!"

Vulptex launches a complex series of aerial sword strikes, teleports, and Twoside projectiles, numbering eighteen hits altogether.

Taylor parries three sword strikes, gets struck by two teleports, launched by a spinning aerial strike, manages to strike down some Twoside projectiles, parries six more sword strikes and teleports before finally parrying the last hit, sending Vulptex flying through the building.

They land in the Radial Room, where Vulptex is stuck between two walls, both depicting Ophelia in her natural and current forms.

[Taylor] "Can't move when you're stuck between two walls, can you?"

Vulptex, weakened enough by the tumbling and crashing, tries punching one of the walls. His weak attempt to do damage does not stick. 

Taylor can only facepalm as he snaps his fingers, causing Ophelia's disembodied arms to toss Vulptex up in the air and punch him, reducing him to nothing. Coins equalling 400 in US currency drop to the ground. Legitimate Zootopian legal tender.

(Sequence C)

[Taylor] "Alright, I'm here!"


	17. Depress:LINK

Taylor reaches his hand out expectantly, grabbing a double-bladed staff. Also named Ophelia, it swaps out the parry system for a fast-paced combo system. Spinning the weapon around, Taylor seems content with it.

Outside the Tower of Vines, nobody can get in. Cavan is there trying to find a way in; the vines nullify his attempts each time.

[Cavan] "Great. World B is doomed at this point."

[Crescendo] "Ah, don't let those depressive thoughts flood your head! That's why the Twosides are still running rampant."

[Cavan] "True, but I just seem so lost..."

[Javier] "Friends, it appears someone has just arrived at our party."

[Taylor] "Party? Where's the fun at? It's not a party without--"

[Javier] "That's not what I meant."

[Cavan] "What are all those clones doing behind him?"

Indeed, the Twosides that had taken Taylor's form started floating in the air, ascending towards the tower. Everyone looked behind them.

[Taylor] "Were you fighting those guys while I was away?"

[Quarter] "Worked our rears off trying to!"

The clones assemble at the tower of vines, and a massive explosion promptly rocks the field. This almost knocks everyone off their feet. An angelic figure rose from the wreckage. He spoke with a judgemental, booming voice.

[Depress:LINK] "Do not bother trying to find me through that huge labyrinth. I will make you company, right here. Right now."

He then discharges a huge wave of energy that knocks out everyone standing except Taylor, who parried it.

[Depress:LINK] "Ah, we meet again, old friend."

[Taylor] "....Observer?"

[Depress:LINK] "I knew you'd recognize my voice. Indeed, I am he. More specifically, that who is known as Reiner. I transplanted myself into your body when I found out that you weren't there. I was seriously hoping I'd turn you into a Twoside to have one of the most powerful forces out there take my side against this wretched place they call--"

Taylor fires one of his guns in the air, interrupting Depress:LINK.

[Taylor] "You know, if you didn't run your mouth nearly as much as you did..."

Depress:LINK unfurls his wings, which look very unorthodox. They are rhombus-like floating appendages that make up five pieces.

[Taylor] "...then you'd be fighting fit!"

[Reiner starts off](https://youtu.be/ywqKhlOFhjU) by drawing a circle in the air, morphing the battle arena into a circular array of primary colors. He then throws five rhombus-like gold projectiles in the air.

Taylor runs past their impact zone and attempts to strike Reiner.

The fallen angel blocks the attack and sends Taylor flying with a flick of the wrist, shouting, "Try again!"

Taylor summons Phoebe in an attempt to try again, only to have her taken away.

[Reiner] "Good on you for using other mammal's Junctions!"

[Taylor] "Nobody had her, so I figured I might as well invade the Orange Zone to free her and have her join me."

[Reiner] "She was _taken_ from me! I have no idea how she got lost--"

Taylor fires a careful bullet at one of Depress:LINK's wings, shattering it and imbalancing his flight a bit.

[Taylor] "It's called a hus--"

[Reiner] "Don't you DARE start with that!"

He then halts time in his tracks and rushes at Taylor.

Him having put his arm up beforehand, Taylor blocks the attack.

Time unfreezes, and he then grabs two of Reiner's wings. A strong front flip later, and those wings are now gone.

[Taylor] "One big part of what makes cats superior to dogs is that--"

Reiner gets up and attempts to sweep Taylor off of his feet with a laser. Taylor evades it with a jump.

[Taylor] "...while there are certain breeds of dog that bite with great ferocity..."

Reiner then attempts to throw a huge stone pillar at him. Taylor slaps it away with Ophelia the Junction.

[Taylor] "...there are big cats that will tear all manner of canines apart this side of wolves."

Reiner's hand conjures a glowing sword that he throws up in the air, splitting it into smaller swords. Taylor makes great use of Ophelia the spear, spinning it around above him.

[Taylor] "I don't even think wolves stand a chance against the fast-paced attack speed of a lion!"

Once the rain of swords subsides, Taylor performs a nine-hit combo with Ophelia, then takes down one of his wings with Cat's Meow.

[Taylor] "You, my friend, are still prey after all. Fighting a predator."

[Reiner] "I'm not a mink anymore if I'm in a cat's body. Is that not the truth?"

Taylor cuts the last wing down and kicks Reiner's weakened body away.

[Taylor] "You cannot hide your true form for long. Especially if you've used Twoside technology to conceal your secret."

[Reiner] "'Twoside technology'? You spout misinformation! I did not give your body the codename "Depress:LINK" for nothing! That sacred field that radiates throughout the Out There's shadier region...! It's called Depress! The Twosides love to harvest it! It allows them to reproduce at an alarming rate, putting our world at war with theirs every second of the hour!"

[Taylor] "Yeah, I'll make a note of it."

[Reiner] "The villain only reveals his plans..."

[Both] " **When he thinks he's already won.** "

Reiner discharges a massive energy wave to discard his current body. However...

Taylor's Polar World powers kick in, allowing him to snap his fingers, causing that area to fade.

[Taylor] "If I can't see you or the place you're in, that means I'm not in there with you! Did you lock the door--"

He then realizes that, in a field of mostly unconscious mammals, he really is talking to the air.

A metal coin segmented into eight at the edges flies toward Taylor's direction. He catches it. It reacts to Cat's Meow and seemingly magnetically attaches itself to the blade's grip.

Taylor reflexively lets go of it, watching it morph into a better weapon. This new weapon has been dubbed

(Nine Lives)

An extra-long beam sword that has the ability to charge up any future attacks by holding down a button on the grip.


	18. 3/4/2016

Taylor looked around at all the unconscious mammals around him, wondering if they were ever going to wake up. Branch showed up looking just as confused as Taylor was.

[Branch] "Whatever happened to these guys while I was gone, I'll try and find them a place to stay.

[Taylor] "Yes, because I plan on returning to World A. I have some pretty interesting things to do down there."

[Branch] "I hope you have fun down there. Not much happens down there that you can see, you know. Just minor accomplishments and such."

[Taylor] "It's not minor if you feel good doing it. The Magic Posters chose me too, after all."

[Branch] "The Magic Posters don't choose you. You choose them. From there, you can refine your style however you want. The Visual is all yours, dude!"

[Taylor] "Very true."

With that, Taylor makes the jump to World A, and when he lands right in the heart of Savannah Central ("My landmark!"), something comes over him.

[A rainbow gradient appears all over Taylor's field of view, taking him to the secret place...](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28909602/chapters/70926582)

He exits, having kept the strength and defense upgrades but not his new mechanical body armor...


	19. Well? Where are you going?

In the farthest reaches of the Out There, two behemoths do battle. Odin, a steel warrior riding a mechanical horse, and Pensive Yamato, a battleship whose missiles have destroyed many celestial bodies. Odin rides his horse into the depths of space, quickly making its way towards Yamato.

With a mighty swing of his titanic blade, Odin smites Yamato, cleaving it clean in half. It shuts down, falling into the void below. Odin steels himself against any oncoming threats, including those like Yamato.

  
  


  
  


**Three Hours Later**

  
  


Taylor takes a walk around one of the junctions in Savannah Central’s southern area. Nobody can see him walk around in the Cognitive, so it feels quite empty walking around in a city with many cars but no passerby.

_Is the plaza also this empty? It’s like a scramble crossing in there sometimes…_

As he walked 10 feet ahead, no sooner did a mysterious yellow-and-orange mammal – which looks more like a construct with her unmoving face and eyes, and unrealistic fur – appear on one of the buildings. She looks around the area, prompting Taylor to move behind an alley.

_I can’t tell if she’s a friend or a foe from this angle…_

She stops looking around. With a reverberating voice, she reports, “No entities found.”

_Excellent. Now move about your merry way…_

“...One entity found. Apologies for the misinformation.”

Taylor, with no choice but to show himself, does just that very slowly.

[Taylor] “If you want something from me, say it!”

“Actually, I want nothing more than recruits.”

[Taylor] “For what?”

“The Twosides grow in number every day. Our army, the Aeon Gems, can’t fight off a countless swarm of them forever. That’s why I’ve been sent to recruit some allies to help us.”

[Taylor] “Well I know a thing or two about fighting Twosides. Those harbingers of depression don’t know when to quit. You got a name?”

[Aeon Topaz] “I go by the handle “Preston-0023” but you can call me Topaz.”

[Taylor] “Excellent!”

  
  


A golden portal opens up above the city junction. Out of it emerges an ax-wielding titan of a Twoside. It starts speaking in the language of its kind, which goes without a name.

[Pensive Titan] “Silly girl, you already know that no matter how many units side with you, no matter how many of us you destroy, we will keep coming back. Depression is a universal side effect of the concept of sin, and many who live choose to turn back. This is the oblivion we strive for.”

Topaz takes out a pair of Style Blasters (dubbed “Wildflowers” – Chicory and Yarrow) and pegs the Titan in the face.

[Topaz] “And yet for as long as there is depression, there will always be a route of happiness to follow. Know this philosophy for yourself!”

[Titan] “And yet you still don’t get it. We Twosides simply reject the idea of happiness. The void below our being is where all life is doomed to enter. Our faces are swirling beneath that trench—”

Topaz has had enough of his yapping, so she combines her guns into a sniper rifle (“Bloodroot”) and fires a powerful round into Titan’s face.

[Topaz] “You know, you don’t look nearly as ugly when your face looks deformed.”

[Taylor] “Tell ‘em again!”

He jumps up and activates Nine Lives.

[Taylor] “Don’t watch the mouth. Watch the paws.”

He then strikes Titan’s face, then teleports and cuts his shoulder, then teleports again and cuts his back, again with his front, his side, his head again, and finally his legs before powerfully kicking him away.

[Taylor] “Teleport Dance. Kinda came with the territory.”

[Topaz] “You seem very powerful. Where’d it come from?”

[Taylor] “Years of traveling the world and seeing – and fighting – new things. My history goes far back; would you like to get the whole book on it?”

[Topaz] “Pass; I’ve been through a lot myself.”

[Taylor] “Good to know! Now, where’s the plaza?”

The two make their way towards it. Titan attempts to get up, but Taylor – without turning around – snaps his fingers. Five different Sentry Junctions[1] surround Titan and restrain him, with a sixth one finally destroying him with a stab through the heart.

  
  


[Taylor] “Now where were….we….?”

[Topaz] “Oh no.”

DOZENS of Twosides have swarmed the plaza, with not a soul in sight save for a Writers’ Guild member playing keep-away with his life. The Twosides appear to be putting on a celebratory event called the “Pensive Jubilee”

[Taylor] “They should know better. A state of deep thought is by no means linked to depression!”

[Topaz] “Been trying to teach them for a while. What gives?”

  
  


[Odin] “Steel thy blades, evildoers!”

A certain metallic shriek echoes across the plaza as the gallant warrior charges through the plaza. The path leaves a trail of white residue on the ground in his wake. The horse’s armor melts the residue away before it can damage its armor.

[Taylor] “Wow! That’s a lot to clean up, for sure!”

[Topaz] “Hey, I’ve seen this one!”

She runs over to Odin and attempts to get his attention. It takes her about five minutes to make it over there.

[Topaz] “Where were you when our army was on its last legs?!”

[Odin] “Topaz! You’re here!... That battleship I took down would have cratered your entire base instead of just one of your units. Better safe than sorry.”

[Topaz] “It’s fine, we all just noticed your absence.”  
  
[Taylor] “Alright, there’s something I’m not getting here. Who are the Aeon Gems, and what does Mr. Big Shot Horse Guy here have to do with them?”

[Odin] “Greetings, friend of a friend. Name’s Odin. I fight the Twosides like you probably do.”

[Taylor] “I took down a Titan.”

[Odin] “And I’m the resident Prime Junction of the Aeon Gems. After Yojimbo was taken down – I was there to see it – I stepped in to replace him. I’ve never lost a fight since then.”

[Taylor] “When was this?”

[Odin] “November 18, 2012.”

[Taylor] “That’s before my kind!”

[Topaz] “We go back to even before then. You were but a mere speck of dust in a floating void then.”

[Taylor] “Actually, I’m looking for someone who may be connected to the Twosides. A mammal of interest, you could say. His name is Reiner, and he’s made off with my old body. Knowing him and his powers, that room I trapped him in won’t last long.”

[Topaz] “The friend of our enemies is also our enemy. We will assist you for however long we can.”

[Taylor] “Hey, we’re all in this together, right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] Sentry Junctions are Junctions that behave more like temporary summons than entities permanently linked to one's soul.
> 
> Changelog:  
> There was going to be a war sequence in the plaza where Taylor would bust out these stylish moves destroying Twosides left and right before Odin showed up, but I nixed that idea because that's a lot of typing without much direction on where to go. Topaz's inclusion meant that it didn't really fit anywhere.
> 
> This thing was destroyed in a site refresh TWICE and I hate losing progress. To LibreOffice it was.


	20. Prelude to Route 66

**One day and four hours later**

At Taylor's Domain, he notices something that wasn't there before; a blue-and-green portal. Then he remembered something he made a note of before.

[Taylor] _"Ah, that's right.[I meant to check on by Route 66 and see if that Synth, Neutral, wanted to make peace with me..."](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27678416/chapters/71087307)_

Wasting no time at all, Taylor jumps into the portal, somewhat unaware of the fear associated with such a destiny-determining decision...


	21. Reiner I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continues from this: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28909602/chapters/71201661

...Taylor shoves RP away and kicks it far back enough to have momentum push it away, sending it into the great beyond.

Taylor successfully lands in World A and locates the Magic Poster that was kicked up in the air. He approaches it, and a familiar mammal appears with his old body.

[Taylor] "Reiner?"

[Reiner] "Figured I'd stop for a visit. See how things are going."

[Taylor] "Yeah, what do you plan on doing here, anyway? There had to be a specific reason why you showed up with _my_ body."

[Reiner] "Well, I'm going to feed this city's Junctions to the Depressive Hierarchy!"

He snaps his fingers, and much to the horror of Topaz and Odin, who were both watching the whole thing, he disappears and stations himself above the Admin Tower.

[Reiner] "New body, new me. I don't have to be cast aside anymore."

[Topaz] "Now what?"

[Taylor] "We follow him to the depths of Zootopia while capturing unhandled Junctions, that's what. Besides, he can't take any Junctions he doesn't have, right?"


	22. Reiner II

Taylor, Topaz and Odin group together in front of Savannah Central’s train station, where the train stops at. This is the area closest to where Taylor landed at to meet Reiner.

[Topaz] “Where were you at the whole time?!”

[Taylor] “You know, I struggle to figure that out myself at times.”

A beige portal resembling the Sovereign Sigil appears above them, and from it, a black-footed cat that does not look much like Taylor at all.

[???] “In order to get things done right, we will need to follow some specific directions. My name is--”

A similar looking, way more demonic portal opens up where the other one was, overlapping it before the new one makes it here safely.

[Taylor] “What did you tell me your name was?”

[???] “The Pensive Battleship is already here, and I was trying to warn you lot about it.”

[Topaz] “Why do you sound so dep--”

The new one points his gun at her.

[???] “Don’t light that fire. You know as good as I do--”

[Odin] “It appears the enemy has breached our territory.”

The new one aims his gun at the Battleship and fires at its core, which is the trademark face of the Twosides. In retaliation, it fires several Face Missiles at the crew, none of which manage to hit. Odin manages a strong sword swipe, damaging it enough for the armor parts to crack. This reveals the mechanized flesh all Twosides are made out of. The Battleship lets out a metallic sound before firing a huge anchor at the heroes.

[Odin] “Retreat to my position!”

They do just so, and Odin’s protective armor and shield blocks the anchor before any major damage could be done.

[???] “I’m fed up now. Watch the paws!”

He summons a beam sword, green in color instead of Taylor’s blue, and cuts the Battleship clean in half with one swipe.

[???] “You want to reach Reiner? You will have to follow the steps. Those steps are where I lead you to. Follow me, and we--”

[Topaz] “Sorry to be a big pain, but we don’t even know your name.”

[???] “Call me by my codename, Fortitude.”

He tosses Taylor a Sync Card. It depicts a female black cat outlaw.

[Fortitude] “Unite this with her other half, and you’ll have the best Junction pair I can imagine.”

[Taylor] “Where is this ‘other half’?”

[Fortitude] “Later down the line.”

[Fortitude] “Our path will go straight through Savannah Central, right up the Admin Tower. There are other Junctions to pick up in the other districts, so you will need to split up and collect them.

[Topaz and Odin] “I’ll do it.”

Meanwhile one of you will follow me up here to the Admin Tower so that we can ascend it and reach Reiner. Our path will be difficult…”

[Taylor] “Spare us the sappiness, we will be fine. Now, wherever this Reiner guy goes, I go.”

Meanwhile, Reiner watches the skyline from the mayor’s office, expectantly waiting for the heroes to go up the tower and confront him. Indeed, he can see them running up the path needed to access some of the bigger towers in Zootopia, like the notorious “snaking” tower (which even he doesn’t know what it’s there for). It’s between a crack in Savannah Central (all districts have this crack but Savannah Central’s is the easiest one to access) that leads to a smaller plaza. This one has all the gateways to the skyscrapers in it.

Reiner briefly pauses his altitude viewing to make the preparations. Already at the top floor of the Admin Tower, he triggers the secret ladder and climbs up it to reach the roof. There, the entirety of Zootopia is within his view. All four districts, plus two of the neighboring territories. It was like the whole world was within his grasp. Reiner proves that it is when he draws a circle on the roof using his finger, then stands in the middle of it and raises his paws high. Connecting himself with the deepest roots of the Out There, the Twosides turn their attention to him and rush to his aid. Yellow streams of lightning attach themselves to Reiner, turning the sky yellow and elevating the nearby architecture. A blood-red circle draws itself around Zootopia, firmly imprinting a horrifyingly familiar face upon the grounds of all four districts.

[Reiner] “Turn me stale, dry and depressed in an instant, you hounds! If I have to drag you with me down into the depths of the Out There, I will!”

A mysterious helmeted mammal appears behind him, having taken the secret ladder to the roof…

The Admin Tower has four floors. The first floor is rather small, placed right above the ZPD but as a result is quite lacking in detail… except for the Major Arcana with his back turned in the center of the field.

[Taylor] “Judgment?”

[Fortitude] “Hanged Man, actually.”

[Taylor] “So what the Observer-- no, Reiner showed me in that bad future was a lie, then?”

Hanged Man turns his back and fires three revolver shots.

Fortitude runs up, intercepts the shots by grabbing them out of the air, and tosses them aside.

Hanged Man then attempts to run Fortitude through much like he did to Taylor as Judgment in the bad future.

Fortitude evades the stab and grabs Hanged Man, throwing him behind him.

Taylor finishes the job by using the Junction that Fortitude gave to him. That sword could not come out of the air faster.

The second floor is a typical office suite… so Fortitude inverts the position of the floor and the ceiling so that he and Taylor are on the latter. There, they find The Tower, the one who killed Gabriel in the bad future. Speaking of which, someone who teleported in that office suite might want to tag in.

[Gabriel] “Frankly, if you thought I was dead, you have another thing coming. This tarot card – taking the form of yet another vulpine – commonplace at this point – is kinda my thing to take down.”

Summoning the scythe he can’t go without, he places a few swipes where they should go; The Tower counters with his staff. Gabriel compliments his attacks with some projectiles; they serve to throw The Tower off long enough to get hit by some scythe attacks because that staff doesn’t quit.

[Gabriel] “You know, all of you folk come with that translucent blue aura. Like, are you guys ghosts or something?”

Barely evading a staff attack and having a scythe attack countered, Gabriel decides to just push him to a wall and open up a gaping hole using the Apport. He then finishes the job by pinning him from afar with a sniper rifle.

[Gabriel] “Quietly move to the south and invert gravity.”

They do just so.

The third floor contains gigantic rows of files sorted from A to Z and even includes symbols that are not in the traditional alphabet…

and one dead Temperance.

[Taylor] “Who came down here and killed the dam beaver?”

[Gabriel] “This is no time for puns. Now, observing Zootopia from the sky as I did before I showed up in the second floor, there was a mammal with a helmet on going through the rooms. The different Arcana kept hiding from this guy, but Temperance failed to find a place to conceal himself before the masked one came in and slaughtered him.

[Taylor] “Well, the enemy of our enemy is our friend, right?”

[Fortitude] “That’s not always true. For all we know, he’s just after Reiner like we all are.”

Fourth floor. Same circumstance. Justice and Strength are both dead, seemingly killed in one hit. The whole room is in disarray, as if the masked one went through a lot to off them so fast.

[Fortitude] “There’s a ladder up against the wall, let’s see what’s up on the roof.

Reiner and the masked one were on top of the roof, fighting like there was no tomorrow.

[Reiner] “Do you know what this city did to me?”

[???] “For a good reason, too! Word of mouth spreads quite easily around these parts. With the attitude you have, I highly doubt that your acceptance here…”

Taylor takes a moment to summon Phoebe and placate both fighters with two streams of lightning.

[Taylor] “I was dragged down here along with him. The reason I go after him is because I refuse to be let down by those who purged me as they did to him.”

[???] “So you’re not the only one. Tell me, then. What do you choose to do now?”

[Taylor] “Well, I’ve decided to follow the opposite path! The Meld is my guide now.”

[Reiner] “An artist, then? What major thing have you drawn recently?”

[Taylor] “Hah, funny question coming from a dead guy.”

[Reiner] “Dead?”

The masked one kicks him off the Admin Tower and throws his helmet down there to go with him.

“Well, take in my image for as long as you can.”

[Taylor] “You’re the Migrant? He was supposed to have died!”

[Crush] “If it’s your best intentions, call me Crush. And yes, reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Nothing said I couldn’t hang on to the one thing keeping so many others busy.”

[Taylor] “Which is?”

[Crush] “A huge chunk of the Rainforest District. I go, 20% of Zootopia goes with it. That can also affect the Cognitive, meaning immeasurable loss of life. I obviously don’t want that to happen. In the case where I need to transfer my ownership to someone else…”

A huge beam of light erupts behind him, prompting him to turn his back. From it, Reiner appears from below the Admin Tower, having Taylor’s old body ripped from him by the Twosides. His screaming does nothing to stop them from tearing apart his very being and sucking him into the depths of the Out There, doomed to be destroyed by the everlasting whirlpool. The faces that govern the far side of the universe look down on Reiner for his actions and choose to turn him into the fibers that keep them alive, such is the fate of other wrongdoers and unrepentant sinners.

[Crush] “And shoved out the door he is. Now, what are your plans for today?”

[Fortitude and Taylor] “Well, actually…”

Fortitude allows Taylor to speak up.

[Taylor] “Well, I have a secret mission to go on. I need to handle some unfinished business.”

[Fortitude] “I’m going with him.”

[Gabriel] “I will continue watching over the Out There with great interest. What are you going to do?”

[Crush] “It’s not in my position to tell. But I will do something.”

**Let Taylor sleep in his Domain. The Acute Hierarchy shall watch over him and change his path forever...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's it for January.
> 
> Leads into Append:9999 Chapter 3.


	23. Append:8891

_Alright. You want a summation of everything Append:9999-2 never told you about? Gather round; it might take a few verses to settle THIS score._

ST01 - A Hidden Surprise

_You have no idea what I went through today. My name is Richard, formerly known as Fortitude. I'm not in Zootopia - at least, I wasn't. I was here in the Astral Speedway._

A long stretch of purple road that feels somewhat relaxing to be in considering that the sound in it is bass boosted to the degree where all kinds of ears can get adjusted to it. Dashing down this seemingly endless path, a lineup of stars fills the air, giving the place its signature name. It's said that truly legendary beings ride the wind here and trail on into the distance of an everlasting paradise. Richard came there expecting something so luxurious.

Instead, he got...

[Richard, turning around] "Huh?"

**Verse 1**

He makes a break for it, the road ahead generating a powerful motorcycle for him to ride on. His speeds matched up with hers--

[Richard] "Ah, that squirrel! Flower, was it? Are you here to give me a new Junction? Make it a good one, hear?"

He says this as the two weave around each other's pathways, jumping between lanes to avoid attacks. Flower then turns around and says something that punctures Richard's ears hard enough to nearly make him slow down.

"Have you tried... not dodging?"

[Richard] "Why would ANYONE not dodge anything you're throwing at me?!"

Richard slashes her motorcycle, causing her to seemingly fall over and stumble behind... Then she jumps forward off of the dust and summons ~~a great big horse with a blade for a horn~~ Diomedes, but not the horse you may recognize. This one's a little lighter in color than the demon steed. Anyways, Richard tries his hardest to overclock his motorcycle to the point where it reaches speeds that shouldn't even be possible for an engine with only so much horsepower.

He jumps. The horse makes a quick cut. The somewhat distressed face Richard makes when he flies by completely sells it to them both that he will not have a great time once he makes it back on the ground.

Indeed, he takes a pretty hard hit when tumbling. Flower makes a quick U-turn and stops. Richard tries his hardest to get back up, and once he does...

[Flower] "Stand still."

[Richard] "Pry these reflexes from my cold dead paws."

Unbeknownst to him, Rozanne had already shown up behind him. Flower makes a gesture that Richard does not immediately recognize. Once the bets were off and Flower fired a sudden beam of energy from her finger...

Richard engages a dodging stance. However, Rozanne pushes him forward, making it too late to dodge it. Clutching his eye in pain upon tumbling to the ground again, he begins to see one-eyed visages.

**Verse 2**

_Two shadows fight. One that resembled a type of mammal never before seen in Zootopia, and the other looking like a slight variant of the same mammal. They engage in combat, parrying punches and kicks with blocks and counters and whatnot. It felt surreal to Richard, yet he could identify what they were going through._

A contest of supremacy? Or....

_These humanlike forms clearly represent a type of higher level of thinking that has not yet been accomplished. Yet the more he sat there contemplating the nature of the struggle, the more he could suddenly feel his spirits lift by being close to Rozanne and Flower..._

EV01

Richard immediately gets up, jumps on Flower's horse, and spins himself to increase the range of his sword throw. It lands squarely in the middle of the sheet of digital material covering up a Junction. By the time Richard rank over to get it, Rozanne and Flower were gone, replaced by a slack-jawed Taylor, in sheer disbelief that Richard managed to overcome his situation that easily. Richard swiftly transforms the card into a weapon for him, and throws another one at Taylor, too shocked to catch it.

[Richard] "You're welcome."

A purple bowgun decorated with stars. Its power belies its maneuverability; it cannot be fired while moving. As a result, it is satisfactory for stationary targets at a long distance.

EV02

Richard makes his entrance into Zootopia from the Speedway with these words:

"Swindler of progress no more."


	24. Append:9109

EV03 – Flying Giants

Richard took a small trip to Tundratown upon exiting the Astral Speedway. Not long after he entered, he looked up and saw none other than Topaz and Odin fighting a gigantic Twoside with all their might, flying and zipping around the giant trying to attack some weak-points. The other mammals were watching as well, but they didn’t seem to mind it and some were even recording the event on their mobile devices. The armor on the Twoside was incredibly durable, so cracking it was no easy task. It was thanks to Odin’s trusty blade that the armor could even be damaged, despite Topaz’s powers. The giant itself was nothing to sneeze at. Its massive fists could shatter windows and its impressive size could render fear into any mammal that saw it. Odin was just barely able to match it in height when taking his steed into account. When he slashed a giant hole into the center of its armor, Topaz struck it hard enough to make the titan vanish entirely.

The two heroes then descended to the icy grounds to regroup with Richard.

[Richard] “Where were you guys when we went up the Admin Tower?”

[Odin] “We weren’t even done with seventy-five percent of our Junction totals when we saw Reiner get carried up like that!”

[Topaz] “By the time we were done, that big lug attacked the Admin Tower. Why do they send the biggest troops up there for the smallest tasks?”

[Richard] “Maybe they are planning a bigger raid with smaller soldiers? Surely the numbers can’t be bigger than what the actual big guys up top can handle, right?”

[Odin] “Anyways, we would like for you to try out some of the Junctions that we can’t use anymore.”

It’s a collection of six cards, one of which is the famed feline outlaw with a hat and boots--

[Richard] “It’s Puss in Boots, okay? There’s no sugarcoating it. Wait, if this is Puss in Boots…”

[Topaz] “You did say something about reuniting this with another Junction, right?”

[Richard] “Yeah, but watch this.”

He converts the card into a rapier. Not just any European sword, though. With enough hits to a combo, one can summon a doppelganger of Puss himself, seeming as if they were fighting alongside him. He tests out that function when he sends Puss to attack a nearby Twoside. In 14 quick hits, the enemy was lacerated in around two seconds.

[Richard] “I will definitely put these to good use. Now, where do I go next?”

He walks over to an ice puddle and draws a circle around it. He then draws a few symbols that represent different letters over the puddle itself. It forms the sentence “FUR OVER WATER” with the spaces representing line breaks, and a portal only he can see opens up. He dives in, totally unaware of the world he would dive into next.

EV04 – Imaginary Line

He lands in a greyscale, empty room. Nobody in there but him and a seeming cliff face that, when over-viewed, contains a mysterious artifact. Passing by, Richard thinks nothing of it.

Until a figure that passes the corner of his eye catches his attention. The sound of metal leaving the bare ground also fleets his ears.

“ _What was that,”_ he asked himself. _“Was that… what I thought it was?”_

Curious as can be, Richard went in the pathway in front of him, then ascended the staircase in the dark to get to the cliff face. He runs after the figure in question.

A white room! Suddenly Richard cannot feel his legs as the room tilts and tumbles and makes him fall all about! The everlasting feel of unbridled fear refuses to leave his fragile heart, and soon he is forced to try to lean on a wall to regain balanced. He is not even sure who did this to him, until he turns left and sees another mammal leaned up against the same wall without any issue standing up.

[???] “Ah, so you must be Richard. Excellent taking up my challenge as scheduled.”

[Richard] “I only wanted to try out something new. Is there anything you want to give me in particular, like your name?”

[Target] “Call me Target, because I’m your next goal. I, too, do not encompass negativity, but I only serve to strengthen your feeble heart. Your legs are jelly and your insides cramp up like a dried-up insect. This I know. If you want to continue your journey, walk up to me and strike me best you can.”

Richard, possessing just enough strength to flick a pebble a few inches away from him, tries his hardest to stumble towards Target, one foot in front of the other. When he finally gets within range to attack Target, his initial swing misses entirely. This is when Richard realizes that his entire weapon stock has been depleted.

[Target] “Come on, really?”

Richard tries again. He would manage a solid hit if Target didn’t move out of the way. The best part is that Richard felt like Target wasn’t even trying to reliably pose a threat to him. Like he’s trying to go easy on him because of his condition. However, his theory would eventually be proven wrong when Target launches him across the room with a single strike. Richard hits the wall so hard that he sees nothing but hex code in front of him.

90206ed84bf226c867dcc78c7

ca70a65c770495229#eabf54

92bd0f0#2a1a105e57e702d575

d26fa64e1b#f5efca3bdc83

#a4013a00bdfc82db2c39e52a09

0f30971#cd6d2fe886aab90ec

83bb4402#4cb1b2d108b93ee

81738ad9a10a9d934c4499f1f

Near endless strings of this and more were all that he could see in front of him. He was positively dazed.

[Target] “Been chasing squirrels again, cat? Your soul nearly left your body.”

Richard waited until the energy that left his body went back to him again. He mustered enough strength to physically separate said soul from his body and looking upon Target with anger.

However…

[Richard] “As fragile of a heart you say I have, you have one more time to MESS--”

Target took the form of his word as his soul saw him, and Richard suddenly fell over and lie dormant, dropping the gun he summoned to his paw.

Target could only look upon the horror of a seemingly dead Richard.

EV05 – Tragedy

Taylor could see Richard’s cold (almost) dead body straight from the very cauldron he performs his experiments on.

[Taylor] “Well this is unexpected. To see my own brother lying face down on the ground clearly out of his mind. I guess I should patch things up for him on the road ahead. Good thing this watch was useful since day 1…”

The watch in question, Goldilocks, possessed a strange function; it could track the fighting style that the wearer used in action. His is positioned on a white slot on the bottom of the watch. It’s called Pure Form, and so far--

[Taylor] “Actually, I think the action should do the talking.”

And with that timely interruption, he fast travels over to a sunnier-than-usual Rainforest District. That squirrel-like figure that Richard tried to follow in the void? It’s here. Right here in the heart of the trees. It turns around slowly, as if attempting to notice Taylor… before running away swiftly at the sight of some Twosides.

[Taylor] “Time to put the thing to good use!”


	25. Append:5805

**Verse 1**

Taylor puts Pure Form to good use as he absorbs the powers of different Junctions and uses them to amplify his attacks, knocking away Twosides with every blow. It isn’t that powerful by itself, and the form has a cooldown before the next amplifier. On the plus side, it encourages fast kills and swift, stylish attacks.

Taylor uses the trees to his advantage, swinging off of them to bash Twosides after he boosts his paws and feet. The (lack of) time provided by Pure Form’s boosts meant clearing out the entire area of enemies fast. He quickly bashes one’s head off in front of him, kicked another into a tree hard enough to break its back, and stylishly brandishes a whip to catch the one behind him. He flings it here and there before launching it forward, causing it to collide into a few trees on the way. The whip vanishes from his paw afterward, with no rhyme or reason as to why it even spawned at his side.

[Taylor] “All done.”

EV06 – She[1]

Upon going in the direction the figure went, he finds himself staring upon a purple portal in the middle of some rocks. A dream-like location he stared down upon, not noticing the massive acorn placed behind it…

Until a pair of arms drags him down there.

[Taylor] “Not the wake-up call I was expecting-- Flower?”

[Canvas] “Wrong squirrel. I’m the likeness. This right here is a location formed from the remains of the Out There – as it appeared in that distant world several months ago – combined with his leftover appreciation for the magnificent arts.”

[Taylor] “So one of the most relaxing locations that I’ve ever seen is formed from _his_ essence. Kitty Magic runs in the blood of all felines. This I know. I didn’t know it was this powerful, though.”

[Canvas] “This is Clair de Lune.”

ST04 – Clair de Lune

A purple-and-blue colored “wonderland” of sorts, the platforms are lined with mysterious, whimsical plantlife. The cliffside is blooming with botanic activity, with no other seeming lifeforms in the dimension… Off to the side, a waterfall ran through and filled the very bottom with a dark liquid that can best be described as “water”. It keeps the platforms up and the flowers blooming, so everyone wins. Bounding through a near-silent world of classical music (including Debussy’s own), a lot of calming things can be seen in the purplish-green atmosphere. The sky was teeming with the mist of luminescence; it kept the world alight and also detailed the microscopic creatures living in the air, floating about as if nothing happened. Of course, Twosides were also there to haunt the tranquility of such an exquisite place. Each Verse proved to be surprisingly vigilant; actions had to be taken to make sure no dead Twosides landed in the water and polluted the plantlife. Running about, a sea of dark water rushed into a cave, one that could be easily crossed with a raft. Pixellated fish swam about in the cramped, rushing sea of matter while the miniature lifeforms kept drifting, unaware of the circumstances. It was like walking through a trip to the inner mind. If a brother’s last passing thoughts were meant to keep Pure Form alive, then what does that say about the form in general…? Taylor thought nothing of it at first, but drifting through the waters on the raft, he got to contemplate it a little longer. What was Richard after? Did he create Pure Form so that entering Clair de Lune would make it a much more feasible fighting style for Taylor to use? The growth on it was exponential; he already reached its level five after three Verses. Canvas was no slouch on the battlefield, either. Her powers seemed to come from the Meld, and they work no less in Clair de Lune. What keeps these universal powers so balanced in this place? The cave leads to a dark forest illuminated by the same green mist that keeps the main area so bright. The fish were jumping out of the water, the Twosides haunted the woods, and the leaves accelerated at an alarming rate until stopping at the greatest greenery level and not changing ever further. For some of these trees, it feels like a hundred years have passed since the tree first grew. Yet the Twosides were trying to cut them down. Their roots connected to the heart of Clair de Lune, and cutting them down meant sapping Richard’s power, which would eventually cause Clair de Lune to cease functioning. Richard would die for real.

[Canvas] “Up there, past the forest, is our next destination.”

[Taylor] “Where to?”

[Canvas] “The place where we get to revive Richard. Hopefully, we can also improve our art skills along the way.”

[Taylor] “Wouldn’t we have to return to the Meld for that?”

[Canvas] “That’s the fun part.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] Name of a song by Stokley.


	26. Append:9900

EV07 – Change of Plans

Ascending the path, a white sphere on a pedestal takes them both to an unnamed desert location. In it, a familiar voice rings in the air.

“Taylor, that Pure Form of yours… It’s tearing me apart. Clair de Lune was my attempt to get you to see that. Now you’ve caused me to unleash the deepest state of my condition on Zootopia, cutting it into parts. See you there in the distance of World B.”

Palette, who was present the entire time on a rocking chair, gets up and says, “The Meld is closed off.”

[Taylor] “Why? Couldn’t he have picked a better place to block off?”

[Palette] “Did you not hear him? He’s in critical condition.”

[Taylor] “Ah, ‘critical condition’. One of his many excuses to not put his abilities to good use. He could be using his stylish array of weaponry to help him against the Twosides. Maybe soften his heart a little. I should show him the meaning of thick skin.”

[Canvas] “That’s not being thick-skinned--”

Taylor teleports to World B, noting indeed that his intended destination to the Meld was blocked off.

EV08 – Endorphin-9

Upon entering World B, he got a look at the most unsightly event he could possibly witness; Zootopia, split into four. In the center, a dark, spherical entity called Endorphin-9. It couldn’t notice him yet, so it patrols the broken city with a single gigantic eye.

[Taylor] “You turned into _that_ because you’re ailurophobic[2]? Or is it something more?”

Jumping over to that area as high as he could, the closest district he could land in was Sahara Square, where the eye was currently watching over.

[Taylor] “Oops.”

The eye saw him on one of its buildings and some black appendages revealed themselves to attack him. He leaped over to another one and threw a white throwing star at them to dispel them.

[Taylor] “So much for that, right? You could have picked a much better place to go and wreak havoc. Any passerby could have thought you were a Twoside or were related to them. Now, may I show you why I specifically picked Pure Form?”

[Endorphin] “I’d rather you stand by and let me remove those Junctions from you. They’re da--”

[Taylor] “They are NOT hurting you. You’re just sensitive. Any normal entity here could hang these Designs up on a wall and admire them. But you’re new to that very concept, aren’t you?”

[Endorphin] “What are you talking about?”

Taylor crouches while wrapping his arms around him, giving him a cape with four symbols etched on metal coins attached to the end of the cape. In order, the symbols translate to the letters C, U, T, and E on the front and L, O, V, and E on the back. However, this detail is very hard to notice. In addition, Taylor is given a translucent veil to wear on his head. His feet and body gain metallic attachments to act as armor, and his watch turns into a compass. The lights on each cardinal direction indicate fighting style. When the transformation is done, Taylor gets up and says this,

[Taylor] “It’s meant to be a ceremonial outfit. Don’t know why it seems fit to use out here but I might as well put it to good utilization.”

He jumps from the platform and enters Endorphin through one of the cracks in its body.

EV09 – Can’t Keep Struggling Forever

A glitchy red-and-orange firestorm! Lining the skies of the forbidden black hole, there stand several floating platforms bordered by this pixellated monstrosity! Clearly a result of Richard’s monstrous blockages lining his heart (which runs in the blood), Taylor has no choice to fly through this broken sky and find his brother through the swarms of apparitions themed after the Designs that the two brothers have obtained. Taylor’s guns finally see use firing upon these “Designs”.

[Taylor] “They’re not the Designs I know, for sure. Something is in his way.”

Indeed, in the central platform, there stands Richard, trying desperately to take out the Designs around him, using the same old sluggish moves not bothering to add any style to his combat.

[Taylor] _“I thought you were better than this.”_

[Taylor] “Richard! I have something to deliver!”

[Richard] “No you don’t.”

The Designs stop attacking and crowd around the two brothers.

[Richard] “What do you have to give?”

[Taylor] “The influence of Pure Form. I’m attacking your stone heart.”

[Richard] “And through what conduit do you plan on using to break those borders? In fact, let me tell you a secret. **I built these walls with my cold dead paws. Every minute I spent constructing this barricade was also spent thinking about all the new things I could introduce myself to in the meantime. I don’t want to occupy myself with the thoughts of the Design-makers. The Meld is one such source of misguided opportunity. I’m not letting any of you run that gauntlet.** ”

[Taylor] “Once again, that sensitivity causing you to do things that aren’t really needed. You do everything from putting up useless walls…”

The “red-and-orange firestorm” eventually breaks the walls down, revealing a thousands-strong swarm of cats identical to Palette. There are also Canvas-like squirrels in the mix as well.

[Taylor] “...to fighting wars that style by itself can’t cut down forever…”

More Designs, taking the form of rabbits, martens, wolves, foxes, and bears appear from opposite the platform, completely surrounding the brothers.

[Taylor] “To running away from the world around you.

The aforementioned walls breaking down also revealed Zootopia ‘s distances to the whole army, which is still split apart.

[Taylor] “Did you seriously fake that heart attack down there to retreat to the darkness? Is this why you kept yourself so hidden for so long? You were an element of the world for way longer than I should have known.”

Richard takes out a Twoside mask, but the same white shuriken from before cuts it down before he can use it.

[Taylor] “No cheating!”

[Richard] “Oh I wasn’t trying to cheat. That was for you. Either way, I’ve already committed to keeping away from the… the…. What do you call it again?”

[Taylor, chuckling] “You can’t sugarcoat something that is already made out of sugar. Now, do you want to harmonize--”

[Richard] “You can’t be child-friendly in this day and age. Blood, profanity, and sex are everywhere, not to mention the violence. Can you counteract that with enough Designs to fill a museum? Can you?! I can see how you can’t speak up. It’s not enough to combine two completely different elements and expect it to work. Leave something out and it will be good again. All the Designs around me can’t halt the impact of a dark event.”

[Taylor] “Prove it.”

Richard raises his right paw and four spheres circle him. Red, Black, Purple, and White. With these, he assumes a cybernetic form with those four colors lining his armor. The black jetpack on his back enables flight.

One burst of darkness later and all the Designs drop to the ground hard, having shutdown.

**Verse 0**

Taylor attempts to fire upon Richard, only for his guns to fly out of his paws and exit the area where Endorphin is. He brandishes his laser sword, only for it to deactivate on him.

The platform swivels around the city, giving them both an unforgettable view. Richard teleports around it and attempts to knock an unarmed Taylor off the platform. His reflexes are on point, though, so he doesn’t get hit. Richard stops the destination of the platform and cuts a hole into reality. Flying away as it opens, it unleashes a stream of Kitty Magic that engulfs enough of the platform to force Taylor to hang off of it. Richard then emerges later and breaks the platform in half, which forces Taylor to fly around and track Richard’s movements. The districts show notable signs of disrepair, with entire structures barely holding on to the weight of their split Junctions. It’s hard to tell what goes on in the Cognitive, but what happens in the Reality happens in the Cognitive, too…

Taylor patiently circles around the top of the broken sky while Richard tries to teleport around and strike him. Then, Taylor gets an idea.

He raises his paws, and just when Richard swerves in for another strike, he collides with a barrier around his brother, dismantling one of his jetpack wings.

[Richard] “I see it isn’t just for show.”

[Taylor] “This isn’t, either!”

He claps twice, bringing all of the Design Influences back to life. They all chase Richard around the city, colliding into buildings he strategically dives and ducks under. His flight path meets a surprise ending when a flying furball fumbles him and feeds him a fact-check. Crashing down to Savannah Central’s platform where a majority of his cyber parts are gone, he backs up and attempts to retreat, genuinely scared of what this army can accomplish.

EV10 – Something So Strange

[Taylor, still up in the air] _“Who came up with this delightful troupe? Could it be fragments of the things he’s seen on his adventures through the worlds?”_

[Richard] “Now, this is not where this is going to go, is it?”

[Taylor, who just appeared behind him] “No. It’s where **you’re** going to go.”

He materializes a white bow and fires a pink-tipped arrow straight at Richard’s heart. Instantly all the Designs around him flock to him, disappearing when they reach him. Richard drops to his knees and quietly takes it all in.

[Taylor] “You’re going right to Clair de Lune. You will stay there until you get used to your new habitat. Now, the intake shouldn’t be too--”

By the time he had finished his first sentence, Richard was already gone, having sent for Clair de Lune, his own thoughtful manifestation. A place he never thought he’d end up in.

EV11

[Taylor] “You know, not even I know why he was so averse to the effects of the Designs. When you think about it, only those who even let it impact their “traditional” thought patterns can use their abilities. Meaning even I shouldn’t be able to summon weapons or do cool stuff with them. It’s a mystery how the mind works. Why do we even let it control us? Is there something blocking us from experiencing the truth? Is it a hyperactivity concern? Are we not _really_ who we appear to be on the outside? Do we _think_ that we aren’t meant to have it based on outward appearance? What about inward appearance? As long as we continue to display a continued interest in what we gather, we don’t need to be afraid of what is – dare I say it – cute and cuddly. Allow me to toss more terms out there. If you take in a story or a Design about something warm and affectionate, what do you do? How do you react? If you think you engage in a state of chaos, ask yourself. Why? Why do you act like this? Is there a way to see what you’re experiencing and tell it to stop? Or are you too afraid to humiliate yourself by acting outwardly about it? Either way, it may seem normal to you, but if you have to hinder yourself from truly appreciating all that is kind and fluffy…

Then now may be the time for self-examination.”

The Meld. Approaching the drawing station about to make history for oneself. Fill in the rest of the character and draw the background.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [2] Ailurophobia is the fear of cats. Ironic.


	27. Cavalcade

EV12-A - Opposite over Adjacent

The second member of the Aeon crew was named Emerald. He, like Topaz, was another one of

the constructs that barely resembled mammals. Unlike Topaz, however, he was a bit more...

eccentric than his peers. Nevertheless, he was at the top of his class in terms of skill and

knowledge. The green fur and the rabbit ears make him instantly recognizable to the Aeon

members, though he says it's a remnant of the past which is why he refuses to change it.

EV12-B - A Freshly Cut Gem

Emerald's abilities are remarkable. He is the only member of the team that can use elements

harvested from Designs. He calls them "batteries”. Each battery he collects can enhance and

change the form of his weaponry, of which he has a lot. The spells he casts with said batteries

are nothing to sneeze at, either. His reflexes could go on for miles – he can dodge enemy attacks

even when he's not aware that the enemy exists - and in the field of hand-to-hand combat, no

Twoside can match him. One of his favorite abilities, however, is his ability to assume a pose he

sees in a Design and strike himself with a bolt of light. This can do anything from strengthen

him to transform him into something to even give him weapons. He calls this “Out-of-Body".

His defining element, however, is the device he uses to harvest the batteries; the Key to the

Kingdom. It is a somewhat long spear with a ring on the end. The ring has three spikes on it,

which are used for picking the lock that hides the batteries. He doesn't need the key most of the

time, but for certain operations, he more than needs it. To test the limits of what he can handle is

definitely something that everyone at Aeon wishes to undergo. However…

EV13 – Batteries not Included

“Alright. Since the original version of this story was wiped off the face of the world, I figure I should recall it in my own words. Of course, I actually remember everything this graceful one typed up. This is Emerald speaking.

Alright, so I’m at my work desk, calmly deciding which Batteries I should harvest, when at literally the WORST time possible, my mission notifications spring up telling me to go to this airport-looking place. Never seen an airport in Zootopia before. Oh yeah, what did I do to get there? I may have taken a route to a third plane of existence. It’s called Subcon, and it represents the spur-of-the-moment thoughts that occur within the zones of those who enter. Thus, it only works in some cases. When I got there, I wanted to see where my target was. I don’t know what came over her, but Topaz pushed me out of the way of a falling block. Then when she got crushed – poor one – three shadowy figures appeared before me. Real tight bunch, too. They did look some kind of familiar, though. I recall seeing them periodically on my work documents. I survey Zootopia and harvest Batteries for a living. I like to two-time. Anyway, these guys were relentless like nothing else. Getting batteries from these ones was harder than I thought. My single-edged sword, Dorian, was a lifesaver in the art of parrying attacks. The gift of speed allowed me to run that big fox through with it. You know, R1. Subcon can really do a number on you sometimes; that’s why I have to think fast and look where I need to go. Seriously, they’ll put your eyes out, those Designs. I mean, not literally, but you see where I’m going. The Key to the Kingdom, that big staff, was a lifesaver in my fight against these two cats and a fox. Why yes, I was in a Design that day! Don’t ask me which one, I won’t give you an answer.

Just when I was about to harvest those precious, precious Batteries with that glyph, a mysterious figure approached me. He didn’t look like an animal at all! Oh, how mysterious indeed! He showed me what it was like to distance myself from one of my incarnations. Whatever that means. He gave me a cool enhancement by taking me to this whacked-out looking place he called “Respect”. There, I obtained Unchained Form.

All it really did other than boost my abilities was allow me to properly scan Designs instead of doing a pathetic one-note job. Good for me, I guess?

Oh yeah, Topaz showed up to ask me how I was doing. Why wasn’t she trapped under a solid foot of marble? As it turns out, she can also use Out-of-Body. In this case, she assumed the form of a rat and scurried her way out of Subcon and got back to the Aeon HQ safely. How she wasn’t noticed and taken to Little Rodentia is beyond me. Anyways. I could probably buff up my weapons with these three Batteries – they could fetch a pretty penny on the market – or I could form an entirely new one altogether. Let’s see what  the future brings.”

**Seven Days Pass**

ST03- A  – In The Zone

[Emerald] “You know, they say that there is a pattern in the world that leads to an alternate side of ours where all the talents there ever were side together and congregate… Ironically for someone like me, I would dread to do something like that lest I draw unnecessary attention to myself. See, I like to present myself as the average Joe…”

[Topaz] “And yet you would rather pass up the chance to enter the greatest place there is knowing you’re right in front of it?”

Indeed, both of them were at the entrance to the  aforementioned Zone. It’s a blue cyberspace area  with grids for floors accessed through certain  square panels on the ground and walls that only certified content creators can enter. That is, Guild members.  The place was magnificently huge, dotted with structures leading to different points and walls painted with familiar faces. Nobody short of those who had existed for years could believe the sights to be seen in the place.

[Topaz] “You see the door. What will you do? Will you enter it?”

[Emerald] “Stuff like this takes time to decide… I’m not sure if I--”

Without much expectation, Taylor walks by them, clearly enjoying the view of the Zone.

[Emerald] “Who is this guy?”

[Topaz] “An ally of ours, Taylor.”

[Taylor] “You should try and find every member of the Round Table!”

[Emerald] “The who?”

[Taylor] “They’re the best  mammals around!  By locating and tagging each of their Patterns, you can add them to your Feed!”

[Emerald] “What’s a Feed?”

[Taylor] “Basically, it sends, or “feeds” you content from the highest-ranking Artist Guild members around. Think of it like the news!”

Topaz grabs Emerald by the arm, spins around once and throws him into the distance of the Zone, Topaz herself following close behind. Emerald flies inside the giant social network holding back panic as he attempts to find a place to land.

ST03-B – The Giant Social Grid, The Zone

Emerald makes a perfect landing on a pink wall… which turns out to be a Pattern.

[Emerald] “Topaz is a bit crazy, okay? It was a very impulsive decision she did to **throw me all the way to the other end of the Zone** thinking I was going to be fine just because I was a daredevilish Battery hunter who also fights Twosides. Just what was--”

Sure enough, three Red Band Twosides appeared in front of Emerald.

[Emerald] “And as luck may have it…”

Emerald turns back around and scans the Pattern. Immediately afterward, that Pattern is registered into his database as “CV-0125”.

[Emerald] “Cool and all, but what can I do with it?”

Emerald takes out Dorian and waits for the Red Band Twoside to attack him. With its huge pincer, the frowning menace swipes at Emerald only to have its attack countered by a parry that nearly disarms the creature. With no hesitation, Emerald launches the thing upward, throws his spinning sword up there for extra hits, makes a jump, then grabs his sword again and spins around for even more hits. When he slams it back into the ground, the other Twosides fly back from the impact.

[Emerald] “Not bad. I haven’t even used my new Pattern yet!”

Emerald holds Dorian out in front of him, charging up the new ability. As the Red Band Twoside marches over to enact a preemptive strike…

[Emerald] “Remarkable! I’ve turned into the silhouette of a lynx!...It’s actually a fresh change of pace this time. I wonder what I can pull off with this new form…”

Indeed, Emerald’s main body moves on its own while his new form remains completely controllable. Together with the old shell, he rotates two beams of light around him, then allows the body to launch the Twosides upward. He snaps his fingers and watches as several meteors fly into the Twosides and turn them into dust.

[Emerald, returning to his main body] “How do you explain something like this? It’s like you’ve obtained ‘data’ of sorts from the Pattern you’ve scanned and repurposed it for battle!”

[Topaz, over Aeon’s intercom] “I believe they are called “styles”. Pattern Styles, more specifically. Th e new form you’ve assumed  is in fact  a fragment of the power of the real deal.  All of the Styles are like that. According to Taylor, there’s over a dozen Round Table members. I suggest finding their Patterns and using them to the best of your ability.”

[Taylor, over the same intercom] “Or you […] just add […] Feed and be […] with it!”

[Topaz] “There’s a shortcut, but where’s the fun in that?”

[Emerald] “I think even with the shortcut it’ll be a wild ride for me.”

EV14 – Return to Form

“Well, it’s about time I got going. The devil needs to pay his due.”

A familiar-looking mammal grabs a red, deactivated melee weapon from a desk and slips a ring on his arm. Walking out the door, he comes across a desert. The dry wind passes over him, giving him a n eerie sense of premonition. He just  casually brushes it off, knowing exactly what he’s been through before. Immediately coming out from that portal in the distance is a magnificent beast with yet a nigh-inescapable face etched onto its side, giving it a scarified appearance.

“You think you look intimidating? Why, I’ve seen uglies even bigger than you are and I’ve still taken them down,” he taunts, allowing the monster to notice him. Immediately he grabs his arm and activates the ring on it. A gigantic lagomorph wearing a bridal gown appears next to him holding a bow. The mammal, Gabriel, readily ignites his weapon, a laser sword whose beam of light can cut through nearly anything. The monster rushes towards him, mouth open clearly looking to take a bite out of one of the most powerful mammals in his family. Gabriel waits for the beast to come close, then powerfully kicks it high into the air before having his Ultimate Junction fire three shots at it. Seeking the opportunity to keep this combo going, he jumps and potently swings his sword vertically, sending both halves of the creature flying across the sand. Its dark red entrails fill Gabriel with pride, knowing that despite being out of the game for so long, he’s still got it in him.

EV15 – If You Achieve a Record in The Zone, Is it Still A World Record?

Emerald already has six Patterns and five additional batteries. Teaming up with his newly acquired doppelganger power, BC-0300, he literally whips a group of Twosides into shape alongside his feline friend’s powerful energy attacks. Summoning a group of crystals that fire lasers, crowd control in a walled-off room is no problem. Stylishly executing twists and flips as the two laser units swirl around him turn the Twosides into piles of steaming residue.

[Emerald] “Couldn’t have done better myself.”

He goes to pawshake his new ally… only for a mysterious dark force to radiate within said paw, the ally none the wiser. The force actually takes him somewhere different. Through several radiant dimensions, he tumbles on and on and on away from the Zone. What appear to be past events flash past him in the form of panels; they pass by so quickly it’s impossible to notice what happens in them before they zoom past.

The endzone is a gray room where three entities stand. One of them looks quite familiar to Emerald…

[Emerald] “Wait… I shouldn’t be here. Where’s Taylor?!”

_You and your family are not the ones being showered with love and support, are they? In that distant land known as Inverse, jealousy is the greatest sin._

_And right now, you show to yourself a devil._


	28. True Devil

EV14 – Return to Form

“Well, it’s about time I got going. The devil needs to pay his due.”

A familiar-looking mammal grabs a red, deactivated melee weapon from a desk and slips a ring on his arm. Walking out the door, he comes across a desert. The dry wind passes over him, giving him a n eerie sense of premonition. He just  casually brushes it off, knowing exactly what he’s been through before. Immediately coming out from that portal in the distance is a magnificent beast with yet a nigh-inescapable face etched onto its side, giving it a scarified appearance.

“You think you look intimidating? Why, I’ve seen uglies even bigger than you are and I’ve still taken them down,” he taunts, allowing the monster to notice him. Immediately he grabs his arm and activates the ring on it. A gigantic lagomorph wearing a bridal gown appears next to him holding a bow. The mammal, Gabriel, readily ignites his weapon, a laser sword whose beam of light can cut through nearly anything. The monster rushes towards him, mouth open clearly looking to take a bite out of one of the most powerful mammals in his family. Gabriel waits for the beast to come close, then powerfully kicks it high into the air before having his Ultimate Junction fire three shots at it. Seeking the opportunity to keep this combo going, he jumps and potently swings his sword vertically, sending both halves of the creature flying across the sand. Its dark red entrails fill Gabriel with pride, knowing that despite being out of the game for so long, he’s still got it in him.

EV15 – If You Achieve a Record in The Zone, Is it Still A World Record?

Emerald already has six Patterns and five additional batteries. Teaming up with his newly acquired doppelganger power, BC-0300, he literally whips a group of Twosides into shape alongside his feline friend’s powerful energy attacks. Summoning a group of crystals that fire lasers, crowd control in a walled-off room is no problem. Stylishly executing twists and flips as the two laser units swirl around him turn the Twosides into piles of steaming residue.

[Emerald] “Couldn’t have done better myself.”

He goes to pawshake his new ally… only for a mysterious dark force to radiate within said paw, the ally none the wiser. The force actually takes him somewhere different. Through several radiant dimensions, he tumbles on and on and on away from the Zone. What appear to be past events flash past him in the form of panels; they pass by so quickly it’s impossible to notice what happens in them before they zoom past.

The endzone is a gray room where three entities stand. One of them looks quite familiar to Emerald…

[Emerald] “Wait… I shouldn’t be here. Where’s Taylor?!”

_You and your family are not the ones being showered with love and support, are they? In that distant land known as Inverse, jealousy is the greatest sin._

_And right now, you show to yourself a devil._

EV16

A pink spark ignites itself in an isolated section. Awakening a gigantic bolt of shaded lightning, it runs along the ground in a current before reaching its destination on the other side of the place and exploding stylishly to reveal what appears to be Zootopia, cloaked in said pink lightning.

_The whole city’s a circuit._

Gabriel just arrived to it to find how… electrifying the experience is.

[Gabriel] “Very interesting.”

Around him are all sorts of mammals both well-known and not so well known fighting individuals known as Pale Spectres. Translucent creatures spawned by an entity known as the True Spirit.

[Gabriel] “You don’t suppose I could find a quick way to the Admin Tower from here, do you?”  
[Ultimate Junction] “It’ll likely take twenty minutes if you take the detours.”

[Gabriel] “Well that just takes all the fun away from it, doesn’t it?”

~~ST04 – The Circuit~~ EV17 – Cycle of Pain and Strife

Taylor kicks a building piece far away from him and cuts open a Twoside next to him with a spin. The entire battlefield is a mess of ruins being picked up by the wind, and Twosides were surrounding him like nothing else. He had already taken on another form where his strength and skill skyrocketed, and consequently the enemies were looking to take him down before his abnormal capabilities capsized their ultimate plan: Take down the entire Wayfinder family. The building piece that he stands on to fight collapses against a cliff, taking Taylor to a dark, grim location through the knockback: Limbo.

Inside of it were mysterious structures of all kinds. Rotating interlocking circles concealing a sphere of energy, A broken pillar alight with pink electricity, and a cliffside seemingly leading nowhere.  Taylor walks off the side of it, and a different side of the world appears to him.  Keep walking, and there’s a door. Open that door, and…

[Taylor] “Why this castle looks familiar…” he says before closing the door behind him.

Blindfolded accurate-looking black-footed cat with three swords – two on their back, one on their side – and a fondness for curiousity.

Got it? Good. Their name is Katt.

They seem unable to walk towards the castle, being stuck on the metal platform. They take a key-shaped device, implant it in front of them, and turn it. The platforms – and the other side – appear to them at once, so they take their time walking through the platforms. 

Opening the castle door, their surprise is justified – white residue littered the walls as mangled Twoside bodies dotted the floor, ceiling and walls. Additionally, the mat with the sun design on it appeared to be moving, truly an unusual sight.

Top floor. Moving up the steps, Katt could hear sounds of fighting and Twosides getting blown up in the other room. By the time they got up there…

Horrified. Katt doesn’t like the Twosides either, but at the same time, they didn’t expect their assailant to be this violent about it. Literally none of the paintings look the same anymore –  they’re all covered in white. Some of the doors are so congested that they can’t even be touched anymore. Not to mention the walls being painted with their internals. It’s like an alien lair in there. At least Katt was able to run up the steps and unlock the star door… to see Taylor annihilate Twosides with a shield.

One of them jump kicks him, only to have its strike blocked. Taylor counters with another kick and throws the shield to decapitate it and the one behind it. He then throws it again for the same effect and climbs up the stairs. In the star door he goes. Katt follows his pattern and enters behind him. The sound of said door alerts Taylor to their presence.

[Taylor] “Hm? We’re you looking for me? If you are, just know that this specific path will carry us all to sudden destruction. I can’t tolerate the wind pushing me aside, either.”

[Katt] “Do you know what you’re saying? You can’t take off without your super powerful conscience.”

[Taylor] “Oh, I have a conscience? Where?”

[Katt] “You stand before them.”

[Taylor] “Then how come I don’t know your name?”

[Katt] “You do. You’ve just pushed me aside for too long. Literal years. I’ve fed off of the things you’ve done, and now look at how far I’ve come for the first time in five.”

Taylor suddenly runs up the steps and disappears behind a tunnel of space-time matter. The force of the wind blows Katt back by quite a bit, although they do not move an inch.

[Katt] “Where are you going?!”

The next field they see is one where Gabriel and Taylor – one unable to see the other – confront each other. Katt jumps onto the field.

[Katt] “Gabriel! I thought you were in the Circuit!”

[Gabriel] “I was. I just took some shortcuts. Now I’m here to show this arrogant fool that he’s probably been taken by something. Possessed, even.”

[Katt] “By what?”

[Gabriel] “You should know, being a part of him and all.”

[Katt] “I haven’t properly scanned him in years. I have five years of outdated data on me.”

[Gabriel] “Five years?!”

[Taylor] “You brought that persistent one over here?”

[Gabriel] “She came here on her own, I have nothing to do with this.”

[Taylor] “She will in a second once I go over and destroy my foundation.”

[Gabriel] “You mean…”

[Katt] “The foundation? What…?”

Katt takes a scan of Taylor. A lot of his data is rendered inaccessible because of a force called the True Spirit. A poltergeist whose form is variable in nature. As a parasite, it takes over its hosts with incredible force and is nearly impossible to shake off. Taylor – and the True Spirit, by extension – have a deep link with Zootopia.

Without warning, Taylor takes a swipe at Katt with his laser sword. They parry the hit, then attempts to disarm him with careful blows to the arms. Taylor blocks those blows and reaches for Gabriel next. Katt rushes over in front of him and throws one of their swords upward, it spinning in place upon making contact with Taylor. They then execute a diving kick to break him out of the stun loop.

[Katt] “I see… He’s clearly possessed by something.”

[Gabriel] “Then let’s beat it out of him!”

The True Spirit leaves its host upon hearing those words.

[???] “You kids have elsewhere to be.”

Gabriel summons his Ultimate Junction and has her fire an arrow at it. The arrow phases through it.

[???] “I already did away with Emerald. He’s hanging elsewhere now, devoid of a form. While the pink electricity may not be of my doing, the erasure of all the elements connected to your prized world will be. Just give it time to ferment; You can’t avert fate, after all.”

True Spirit floats upward and absorbs some of the pink electricity coming from the Circuit. 

[???] “It’s called “Spur Energy”. It’s what motivates us during crucial events in our lifetimes.”

Taylor opens his eyes and sees his own soul floating in the air. Panicking initially, he realizes that his  life is not connected to his soul anymore.

[???] “I see you’ve awakened, too. What caused you?”

[Taylor] “No clue.”

Gabriel taps into Polyester and takes flight using a set of wings. He clashes with the newly formed body of True Spirit – True Devil – and follows him to the ends of the Zone. Katt looks into their inventory and equips a jetpack, doing the same. Taylor watches them all fly into the distance as he ponders how he can make it over there.

EV18 – True Devil

Taylor makes a quick left from Subcon’s funnel and lands in another mysterious room. Stepping closer, the mirror in the next room reveals itself to have an irregular reflection. Indeed, this one moved on its own, only bothering to copy Taylor’s movements when he attacked. The reflection flies at him, moving Taylor to dodge.

The mirror image gets up and attempts a kick.

Taylor blocks it with one arm and attacks the doppelganger with the other.

Flying back at an impressive rate, the clone halts his momentum to notice something bizarre; Taylor’s arms have changed texture and color! This time the duplicate plays it safe with the attacks; it ignites the laser sword and waits its turn.

Taylor returns the favor… and launches a wave of Kitty Magic from the sword at the double!

The impostor jumps over the wave to dodge it, but in return gets launched aside by an upwards slash from the real one.

Taylor then slowly charges up a big circle with his sword, hoping to catch his foe in a devastating blow.

The faker advances towards Taylor in an attempt to perform some iaijutsu.

Taylor’s circle is almost complete...

That’s when True Devil’s remains fly through the mirror, shattering it and crippling the pretender enough for Taylor to obliterate it with a giant wave beam.

[Taylor] “Fashionably late, I see. Arrived just in time to see me become a superhero?” he says prior to picking up the Millennium Battery.

[Gabriel] “Wait, did we help you with something?”

[Taylor] “Well, my dark side there was a bit of a tough one, but fortunately everything could hurt it.  Now, where were we?”

The True Devil lifts itself up from the ground and attempts to attack Taylor. He kicks it up in the air, puts his Battery away, and goes up to attack the creature…

Only for a yellow arrow to pierce through the  thing and shatter it completely, releasing a burst of yellow electricity through the entire Zone.

[Taylor] “Now, who would it be that would steal my opportunity like this?”

[???] “Only the kind of army that does nothing but motivate people,” said a country accent.

A group of Twoside-shaped yellow army units march on the field. The only thing that makes them distinct is the smile on their faces instead of the depressed look… and the increased weaponry units.

[Taylor] “Huh? I thought I was seeing double for a second! Are you guys Twosides?”

[???] “That’s a very cursed name you put upon us… Call us the Positivity Committee. We’re not the kind of folks that’d give others a bad name, except those evil sons of who-knows-what over there. We’re not Twosides.”

“ _We’re Eightsides.”_


	29. March - In the Choice Between Good and Evil

EV01 – What Happened?

(Gabriel and Katt took flight, chasing and being chased by the True Devil in the midst of doing so. They attacked their opponent from afar while they still could, using Polyester projectiles and military-grade artillery. True Devil took some times to swipe and strike at them, either missing or getting direct strikes to the face. Around and around the Zone they went, passing by different Patterns and barely managing to avoid any distant structures. Gabriel knew where he went; Katt could only follow. The rushing blows and popping light bursts carried them to a seemingly inconspicuous light patch on a wall. Gabriel carefully aimed a punch at True Devil aimed at that wall; once he landed it, the knockback accidentally interrupted a battle between Taylor and another enemy that looked like him.)

[Taylor] “Cool story, Slade. Good on you to tell me in the middle of a heated battle between me, the Eightsides, and the Twosides.”

[“Slade”] “Don’t talk to me like I’m a distraction. The way I see it, you were fighting quite stylishly. Maybe I should show you how to use some of that untapped power of yours.

[Taylor] “ **In the middle of a collapsing piece of rock?!** ”

[“Slade”] “Sometimes the best tool is the one you have but never use. Better than something you don’t have but need, after all.”

EV02 – Colonel Slade and the Assault on Savannah Central

The leader of the Positivity Committee – as well as the one who killed True Devil – is a military lord named Colonel Slade. 

In Savannah Central a few hours after the battle, he teaches Taylor the secret of the Spur. The practice starts when a group of Twosides descend upon the Central, hoping to disrupt his flow. Taylor attempts his usual routine of quick, decisive laser sword slashes. Rushing to each enemy as he attacks, he lays airborne land mines to catch his enemies in mid-air and keep them up until the next combo.

[ Slade] “What are you doing, soldier?!”

[Taylor] “You’ll see.”

He continues with the sword combos and as he slams his blade on the ground to extend its range, pink lightning surrounds his body.

[Taylor] “With Spur Energy…”

Taylor rapidly cuts a group of Twosides to shreds with increased speed and strength.

[Taylor] “...boosts in performance are achieved with ease…”

He then raises Nine Lives up high, summoning behind him a red squirrel wearing a spring dress, also holding a bladed weapon.

[Taylor] “...and help can be called upon with the power of thought! This is called a Spur Summon.”

Spinning around with his new ally, their combined power wipe out the entire Twoside force single-handedly.

[Taylor] “Does your squad have one, Slade?”

[Slade] “We can’t really harness Spur Energy like you can. We are constructs, after all.”

[Taylor] “Is it because of your distant cousins?”

[Slade] “Perhaps it is. Either way, you’re already off to a great start.”


	30. Depress:KNIGHT / The Ceremony Part 1

EX01 – An Unforeseen Occurrence

Invisible to those who cannot sense their presence, the Apparitions are ghostly warriors that float in the sky and observe those who enter their field of view. They cannot inflict real injury on anyone, but it doesn’t take much to shatter them. It is best not to view them as enemies, but as chance encounters and signs of significant events about to unfold. In reality, even, they will fly at and attack any nearby Twosides. The Eightsides have also sought them for assistance during battle.

The Apparitions – who appear as cats to Taylor – are non-hostile forces. They only appear to attack to those who do not take well to their appearance. There is no real way to halt the advance of a group of Apparitions.

EV03 – Business where Business is Due

Topaz walks over to a cauldron, placing the remains of Emerald’s suit in there in the hopes of reviving him. As soon as she stirs the pot and closes the lid to let the parts ferment, a Twoside portal opens up, revealing a particularly strong member of their race.

He only had one eye, and was riding a giant gold dragon. Depress:Cyclops and Depress:Drake.

Topaz prepared herself to fight while changing the area to avoid disturbing the cauldron.

“You should have opened the way to his remains!” The Cyclops said in his near-incomprehensible language.

“Well first, you’re going to have to FIND them.” Topaz replied.

The train tracks are living! Those rough clanking sounds sync up with the movements of two horses: one of them is Taylor’s, and the other one is of his enemy, Depress:KNIGHT. The Twoside’s horse, Depress:PEGASUS,  is one of the fastest things around, able to keep up with Taylor’s own steed while clashing swords ever so bravely. While Taylor is able to cripple the horse with a well-timed jump followed by a summoned arrow to the legs, the KNIGHT is able to jump after him and parry all of Taylor’s airborne blows. The two combatants land.  


[Taylor] “Do you have any idea how coming after me would benefit your army?”

[KNIGHT] “To drive you away from this world and its events is our only purpose. We will stop at nothing to ensure your destruction.”

[Taylor] “And where have I heard that line before?”

Taylor draws a circle in the air and sticks his paws in the resulting portal. Once he’s grabbed what he needs, he throws them up in the air. It’s a set of bluish-green plated handguns bearing the  aquamarine gemstone representing the month of March on both weapons. Printed on its side are the words “try everything”.

[KNIGHT] “And what do you think a set of guns would do to this armor?”

Taylor fires a bullet at his helmet, making him flinch. KNIGHT did not expect this out of a pair of normal-looking handguns. However…

[Taylor] “Got something against a fresh .50 cal?”

Pulling the hammer on the first gun, Red Swing, makes it switch modes, due to the lack of (a need for) an ammo system. The pistol transforms into a shotgun, which gives KNIGHT the incentive to recall PEGASUS. Once the horse marches back on, a fresh shot from the upgraded weapon blows the equid’s head off, and another one towards a disgruntled KNIGHT pushes him far back enough for him to tumble over the side of the train tracks. 

He didn’t go without a side-effect, though. KNIGHT throws his sword at Taylor hoping to catch him off guard, but Taylor kicks it so high that a few minutes later, the sword lands in Sahara Square’s beachside area, completely out of range of the invisible mammals of the Cognitive.

[Taylor, upon seeing the bluish-green beam of light coming from the Admin Tower] “I’m gonna miss the ceremony!”

Upon warping to Savannah Central's plaza and marching over to the source of the beam of light, he sees none other than two individuals merely testing out the equipment needed to start the ceremony.

[Taylor] "You had me worried for a bit. I thought you were going to start a day early!"

[Taylor, going back outside] "Well, you at least have the preparations down..."

Zootopia-themed wallpapers and banners were everywhere, not to mention the strange green aura coating all four districts...


	31. Non-Stop Infinite Zootopia, Part 1

The light atop the Admin Tower gets bigger and fuller until it envelops the entire city, calling attention to several mammals and the onslaught of many Twosides.

**Verse 1**

Against three Twosides, Taylor holds up his sword and parries every blow they deal to him. He strikes back in kind, ripping apart the bodies of those struck and decapitating one. A Depress:DRAKE flies toward the area (Savannah Central Plaza) and attempts to dive bomb Taylor. He grabs the mechanical reptile out of the air and slams it headfirst into the ground. After kicking it multiple times, he changes his gun to a miniature rocket launcher and separates the head from the body with an explosion.

Meanwhile, in another district…

**Verse 2**

Marcus enters the scene (Tundratown) with a wide variety of weaponry on hand. He takes off the heads of three Twosides with a whip, turns around and headshots two more with a handgun, then conjures a portal underneath five more that opens them up to the mouth of a gigantic sea monster. Raising his paws, he commands that sea monster to crack a Depress:MAELSTROM in the face, hard. The resulting impact left a sizable hole in the walking tank’s face, allowing Marcus to finish it off by withdrawing the sea monster and replacing it with another unseen monster that uses its vines to rip the enemy apart in several places.

**Verse 3**

Collapsing Twoside bodies into each other with what looks like psychic powers, Flower and Rozanne have done quite a bit of work clearing the Twosides from Sahara Square. However, their biggest problem yet is the incoming Depress:VALKYRIE, a military jet that deploys Twosides and makes a solid landing on the sand, all too willing to fire artillery at the duo. Thankfully, Rozanne’s Magic Mirror, a protective wall that can reflect projeciles was able to destroy the plane in seconds. Upon seeing the ones behind their plane’s destruction, the four Twosides make a run for it, unaware that water slows them down enough for Rozanne to launch a set of projectiles at them that obliterates them.

**Verse 4**

Mayfield is a fox who doesn’t really need weapons. His strategies in battle combined with his methods of outmaneuvering enemies with stylish movements ensures that he almost never takes a hit in combat. In this case, when several Twosides at once attempt to ambush him, he jumps high above them and jumps on top of a building. He runs along the rooftops, which encourages the Twosides to jump after him and chase him. After a few minutes of running, Mayfield jumps to a distant set of rooftops. The Twosides would follow, but a giant net captures them all at once and throws them to the distance. Mayfield never got a glimpse of his comrade, but there is one thing to know for sure.

“ _There are a simple set of rules to follow if you want to get known.”_

“ _I think I know them: Know who you’re talking to, build up trust and respect within said community, and give it time before displaying your newfound maturity elsewhere.”_

“ _Certainly did your homework. Impressive, for a rookie.”_

“ _Rookie at what? I have everything already, what do you give to someone who has everything?”_

“ _Simple: Nothing. Take away a mammal’s freedoms, his joys, his reasons for living, and he finds elsewhere to settle. This is why I devised the nomadic principles. As for my duties with these weapons of mine…_

_I’m a cop. My criminals are Twosides and general troublemakers. Unlike most law enforcement, I actually know when a problem starts and how to fix it.”_

**Verse 5**

R8A calmly reads a newspaper of sorts on a bench, not bothered by any threats. A Depress:SNIPER’s laser bullet barely manages to miss him; R8A moved to the side of the bench to avoid the blast. When another bullet came by aimed right for his face, time seemed to slow down time in the red fox’s vision. He puts the newspaper down and conjures a transparent shield that reflects the bullet right back at the SNIPER. He warps to his stunned enemy and strikes a few times with a transparent sword. Upon defeating his would-be assassin, he warps back to the bench and picks the newspaper back up.

**Verse 6**

A fennec fox, Trevor by name, drives right by the road where R8A sits nearby. He lowers his reading material to watch him go by with a motorcycle and run over some Twosides that were trying to block his path. He then activates the spiked wheels on the front tires and pops a wheelie to demolish a Depress:WIZARD. He picks up the wand and throws it at R8A’s direction, prompting the vulpine to warp over and catch it. He warps back to his bench and pockets the material.

Meanwhile, Trevor converts his bike into a hovercraft with the press of a button and flies his way out of the scene.


	32. Non-Stop Infinite Zootopia, Part 2 / Nuttier than a Squirrel's Breakfast

**Verse 7**

Maine. A recolored red panda sitting on a tree branch. Nothing too unusual, except for the sight of an enemy projectile at the nine-o-clock position. She transforms! Revealing herself properly from her animal transformation, Maine jumps from the tree, throws a razor fan at the offender – a SNIPER from four feet away – and watches as the fan spins around her enemy until decapitating it. She catches the fan with a “Well that wasn’t the most stressful part of my day...”

Meanwhile, in the plaza, an assorted group of members of the Round Table – a circle of content creators given that colloquial name by Taylor – continue batting away Twosides left and right.

However, a burst of lightning from the sky alerts both armies and briefly frightens them until a time disruption freezes the whole scene in place.

“Maryland! Do you know what you’re doing?”  
“About to give you a lesson to remember. To rearrange your perspective on the world around you… that’s my next decision.”

A squirrel’s fist protrudes from a portal as Taylor is knocked out of it and into the ZPD’s symbol on the front of the building. While he does get back up, he eventually succumbs to his injuries and falls to the ground unconscious dead. Drops his gun set and everything.

In the midst of a dark, foggy room, Taylor finds himself shooting at an unseen force that strikes him back four times. Regaining his footing from the knockback, he fires continual shots at the mysterious enemy…

Twoside faces! Every angle of the wall coated with them! Taylor realizes his shots are utterly futile and attempts to make a run for it. Eventually, though, his running gets slippery as a yellow vine catches him in the back on several places. The squirrel from earlier, Maryland, appears from that wall and summons another wall of Twoside faces in front of Taylor.

“Huh, so you don’t realize where you’re carrying yourself with this. The way you’re going, you’re going to become just like them,” says Maryland with a mocking voice.

“But I’m already one of them, aren’t I?” Taylor replies.

“Let’s test that theory.” Maryland says. “Aim for that depressed kid.”

“Should I reiterate myself once more?! We don’t use that word here!”

**“We do now.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our hero, ladies and gentlemen. With not a soul in Zootopia that cares for them both, they pretty much live in a different realm altogether. What exactly is their relationship, though?


	33. CRISIS Part 1 - Inverse

Within the outskirts of a peculiar area are new types of Twosides called Upsides. Their faces are blank, their bodies covered by a gridlike purple outline. Taylor runs past them while cutting them all down with one swipe. Looking up from the battle zone, there stands a relatively fortified city that appears to be in the brink of war. This is Inverse, the opposite of Clair de Lune. It is where negative thoughts fester and ferment into Twosides. It is the source of them and a constant source of war from all three sides of the universe. Standing in the middle of it all is a giant radio tower, Anima. Taylor decides to head there next, but his path is blocked by a Depress:HERACLES, a hulking brute that remains near-impossible to flinch by any normal attack. Seeing how large it is, Taylor calls upon the power of a giant bell at the base of Anima Tower that picks up his signal with a metallic meow that can be heard for miles and transforms his sword into the Golden Needle. This is a weapon that only cats can wield, being made completely out of Kitty Magic. One spin slash later preceding a punch, and the HERACLES drops both of its swords, having been bisected.

“I can make good use of these,” says Taylor as he equips both weapons. They float on his back.

After navigating through the alleys while cutting down Upsides and running past armies of mammals, he finally makes it to Anima Tower. The number of Upside varieties are countless, from humanoids to entire battleships. They seem to get the upgrade treatment once they are ready to enter the Master Disc and continue feeding on negative thoughts.

Taylor immediately points his gun at a mammal that looks just like him, Midway by name.

[Taylor] “You must be the one trying to make short work of me here!”

[Midway] “And what if I am? What’d you come down here  to Anima for, anyway?”

[Taylor] “It’s the only way out of Inverse, no?”

[Midway] “As the one who commissioned your entry in Inverse – purely to recruit a strong unit to lead our forces – I’m closing that exit down.”

He snaps his fingers, and emerging from the portal above is – much to Taylor’s surprise – a lync wearing headphones.

[Taylor] “Your idea of army units is rather fascinating, I must say.”

Taylor quickly jumps up the purple spire and meets the lynx head-on. The two trade blows – one with swords and the other with her arms – before landing on the side of the tower.

** Verse 1 **

Taylor and his enemy – Invert-Cassie – brandish their weapons – or lack thereof. “Am I the only cat that uses weapons?” Taylor thought to himself as he parried three punches and countered with a slash from the Golden Needle. Cassie evades it, but one of Taylor’s swords reels around and catches her dodge. A wicked thunderstorm kicks up as the battle rages on below. Upsides and mammals alike perish to the blasts of electricity. Meanwhile, Cassie is carried up by Taylor’s long blade. He keeps up the combo with his guns, eventually meeting her up in the air and using both the long blade and the Needle to send her back down. Cassie cracks her knuckles  and unleashes three punches that summon larger paws that fly towards Taylor at high speed. Taylor remembers that he has a parrying device on his arm that runs on Kitty Magic, and with it, he parries all three of those paws. Cassie actually feels the effects of the parried paws – her digits are sore! Taylor quickly launches a wide beam of light from the Needle – Cassie dodges this with a jump, but the long blade stabs her from below. The short blade fires a beam of light, impaling her head, and Taylor’s final blow with a wide, pink wave of energy completely bisects her.

[Taylor] “You know, for a mimic, you’re actually not that bad at trying to be the real thing.”

Indeed – although she’s not present, there’s a Cassie in the mainland that fights way better than her Invert counterpart.

A golden portal forms next to Anima Tower, bringing out Taylor’s second Invert opponent, Relaxed.

[Taylor] “With that outlandish color, you aren’t even trying to imitate the real deal!”

She can fly, but she has no wings at the moment.

** Verse 2 **

Relaxed flies at Taylor – he evades the blow and fires a golden laser from the short blade while firing his guns. An angelic barrier blocks the shots but not the light beam. She throws  a total of three punches and one paw swipe. While Taylor manages to jump and fly past the punches, the paw swipe requires him to use Ophelia to push it back. While he is doing so, the doppelganger feline rushes at him once more, attempting to cleave him with Kitty Magic. The Golden Needle prevents this, though she almost disarms it due to her nature. Taylor charges it up and releases three energy waves, repelled by another barrier that levitates them away from her.

Their flight path ascends ever higher up the tower as Taylor and Relaxed brandish their Golden Needles and start clashing. Their swords run up the Tower’s glass windows as each clang of metal awakens a giant Depress:BEHEMOTH, an astronomically long centipede that scales up the tower as they do. Neither of them bothering to fight the centipede, they complete their clash of supremacy with a ball of light that sends them both back fifteen feet in the air. The BEHEMOTH is then flanked by a CERBERUS – a rare instance of two Upsides dueling each other. Relaxed’s long blade flies at Taylor’s own, which gives them the idea to throw their Golden Needles. Unfortunately for her, a real Golden Needle is significantly more powerful than a fake one, so the genuine sword destroys the replica and dices up Relaxed like a slab of meat.

[Taylor] “Two down. Who’s next?”

He descends on Anima Tower and runs up the wall so fast that he warps himself to the outside of Inverse – radically different from his actual home. This gray, somewhat desolate land flanked on all sides by a ruined stadium is, too, at war. Replicas of mammals Taylor knows well from the Reality engage combat against both Upsides and Twosides. Neither enemy force seems to care about the other – going so far as to attack each other sometimes. Taylor finds himself in this as well, but he sees it as a chance to improve his three-sword style. Two Upsides try to pincer attack him from both sides but Taylor throws his guns upward, jumps and kicks his enemies, lands, catches his guns and shoots at a distant Twoside enough times to blow up its head. He puts the firearms away and follows his allies up the stadium once he hears a  _ Vulpes lagopus  _ command his army to “move eastward!”.

[Taylor] “They’re all replicas of the real ones, but they fight and act so closely to the real deals that it’s almost too convincing. Maybe there’s something about them that’s drawing from my memories…

* * *

Eastward leads to – believe it or not – Zootopia. The one and only, in fact. Still keeping up appearances in the Reality, but with one small change, one that Taylor notices almost immediately after entering. 

[Taylor] “Wilde? Why are you standing there holding a sword?”

[Nick] “I’m waiting for the one responsible for all this.”

[Taylor] “Midway? Oh, you misunderstand, I merely look like him.”

Taylor approaches Nick, prompting the fox to rush over there and attack him. Taylor prepares the Golden Needle, but the former hustler races past him and clashes swords with a passing Midway, instead.

[Taylor] “Was that puss following me? He wants me back in Inverse that desperately?”

[Nick] “All several dozen of us are trying to repel his forces. Here I am trying to checkmate the leading mammal himself.”

[Taylor] “Well that should end the war, right? Just kill this guy and it’s all over!”

[Nick] “Not quite. If one commander dies, another one just takes his place. In Inverse, there’s more than one Commander-in-Chief. The next in line inherits the title when the current one is all done. We got spies trying to take out the boss guy’s minions now.”

[Midway] “And how long do you think your admittedly impressive army can last against them?”

[Judy] “When we think we’re cornered, we reshift our priorities and provide backup.”

[Nick] “What took you so long?”

[Judy] “Getting from our world to this one is not easy, you know. Daytime here is nighttime over there, so I’m losing hours of sleep over this!”

[Nick] “Okay, fair.”

Nick pushes Midway back and surprises him with another warping slash, which takes out his right shoulder.

[Midway] “Ah, that’s my dominant paw right there… Time to retreat.”

He does so through a darkly luminant portal that disappears when he enters it.

[Judy and Nick, to Taylor] “So, uh…. Welcome back?”

[Taylor] “There’s still a war brewing in a completely different world. I may have to take long and frequent trips over there to help out.”

[Nick] “And we’re also here to help.”

[Taylor] “Excellent.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Overture: Crisis
> 
> A story arc that takes place in a world at war - Inverse. Midway drags our hero, Taylor, to a distant land and engages war with the heroic units trying to save him AND Inverse. Armed with three swords and a variety of helpful allies, he will have to muster all the strength he can to repair a broken mindset.


	34. CRISIS Part 2 - Enthusiasm?

_After the grey wall was passed following a healthy reunion..._

[Maryland] "You thought the world turned a blind eye to your works, so you came running to me. You thought your community paid you no mind, so you stepped foot into my doors. You thought art - creations of the Meld - was the key to everything, so you went to me for assistance. All I have to keep telling you to avoid those negative reactions is to keep fighting in the war. It has been raging on for centuries, and it has just stepped foot in our world. Inverse is an attempt to contain it, but the can is leaking. The Twosides, the Upsides; they're all looking for you. They are seeking to cast you out from this world to leave it with no power. While it is our duties to prevent that from happening, you are ultimately the strongest one that can hold them back. 

But first you have to confront the bad decisions that lead you this far."

* * *

Taylor picks up the Golden Needle and clashes swords with Midway in an island surrounded by an angry thunderstorm. Circling the sandy arena with nothing but whirlwinds of metal, the two combatants seem to cut the rain apart with each swing. The physics-defying battle continues until Taylor slashes past Midway, subdues him with his long blade, and summons his Theo Junction, which proceeds to crush him with a psychic block of energy. Unfortunately, Midway holds up the block and throws it back at the one who summoned it. Theo just despawns the block and unleashes a psychic blast that launches Midway backward. Catching up on this maneuver, Taylor runs towards Midway, cuts him back forward with the long blade, and kicks him up high into the air. Midway summons a bug-themed crossbow to counteract this, but finds himself surrounded by five Cat Glyphs. Taylor jumps upward, and repeatedly cuts Midway with ten continual hits, each Glyph emitting a sound with every impact. When Taylor uses all five Glyphs to launch Midway back into the ground, he descends and takes a bow, removing a non-existent hat from his head.

Midway has one last trick up his sleeve, though; He snaps his fingers and summons three giant cat feet, all of which Taylor backflips away from. In response, Taylor transforms into a realistic black-footed cat and runs toward Midway. The elusive doppelganger undergoes a similar transformation, jumping away from and leaving the island through a portal. Taylor rescinds his shapeshift and watches as Midway's dark portal vanishes into the distance.


End file.
